Rose's Senior Year
by lulu8706
Summary: Sequel to Rose's Childhood. Rose is now a senior in high school and she has more than just the popular crowd to deal with...
1. Chapter 1

Prolouge

It was Rose's first day of public school since she lived with her step-father when she was 8 years old, ten years before. Rose was on her way to West City, and thinking about how her mother's life was taken right before her eyes by her step-father when she was only ten years old. He died that same day, to Rose's hand, she had no choice. It was either kill or be kiled.

Rose would never forget being tied to the chair and watching her mother be killed. John, her step-father, had kidnapped her and taken her to their summer home. When he had let Claudia, Rose's mother, into the house, he grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter by the door. Rose had watched as the knife was brought high above her mother's head, and was quickly brought down. Claudia had turned just in time to see the knife come down and plunge into her mother's heart, killing her almost instantly.

Rose came back to the present when she looked down and saw West City. She was glad her great-grandfather had taught her to fly, or it would have been a long walk if she hadn't. Rose had the blood of an alien race called the Sayains running through her veins, and she never knew it for the first 8 years of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

Rose found the high school and went in. She felt like a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs. As she passed people, they would stop and stare at her as if she had just walked out of a space ship. Rose stopped behind a blonde girl about her height. The girl's friend stopped talking and looked at Rose over her shoulder. The girl turned and said,

"What do you want?" The girl had tanned skin and was very pretty. She had big hazel eyes that seemed to look right through Rose.

"Do you think you could show me where the guidance office is?"

"Um, do you even know who you're talking to?" The girl said, turning her what seemed perfect lips into a sneer.

"Appearntly not. Wouldn't I have called you by your name if I did?" Rose asked sarcasticlly.

"Blow off." The girl said as she turned back to her friend.

"I'd like to know where the guidance office is, please." Rose said, starting to get irratated.

"What did I just-" the girl cut off as an adult walked up. "Mrs. Woodman, this girl was just asking where the guidance office was and I was going to show her." The girl said, her voice dirpping with false sweetness.

"Huh?" Rose said, confused.

"Why, thank you for being so kind, Julia. You must be Rose. Welcome to West City High School." Mrs. Woolman said, directing her attention to Rose.

"Hello. It's nice to meet you." Rose gave Julia a nasty look while she said this. Julia just fired one back at her that seemed to say, 'I can get away with anything. You better watch out.'

"Why don't we go down to my office and get started on that papper work?" Mrs. Woolman said, not noticing the looks.

"Ok." Rose said, looking at Julia.

"I hope we have some of the same classes" Julia called, her voice dripping with even more false sweetness than before.

"This is going to be a long school year." Rose mumbled to herself.

"What was that?" Mrs. Woolman asked.

"I said that this was going to be a great school year." Rose said, forcing herself to smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

After Rose had filled out her paperwork, Mrs. Woolman gave her a schedule and walked her to her class. When they got to the classroom, Mrs. Woolman knocked on the door. Then she opened it and walked in. She closed it behind her before Rose had a chance to go in.

Rose looked into the window and saw a young male teacher standing in front of a wooden desk. He was hadnsome, but not ina way that would cause a teenager to have a crush on him. He and Mrs. Woolman talked for a few minutes before Mrs. Woolman turned and motioned for Rose to enter the room. Rose entered and looked at the large class. As Rose walked across the room. she saw Julia. Oh, great, Rose thought, this is all I need. Julia looked at her and smiled. This can't be good, Rose thought as she stopped beside Mrs. Woolman.

"Mr. Satatogi, this is Rose. I have to go. I have a meeting in a few minutes. Have a nice day, Rose."

"I'll try."

"Rose," Mr. Sataogi said after Mrs. Woolman had left the room. "Welcome to my class. Have a seat."

They only open seat was right beside Julia. Uh-oh, I'm probably going to be in trouble before the week is out, Rose thought as she headed toward the desk. As Mr. Sataogi continued on the math lesson, Julia was writing on a piece of paper. After a few minutes, Julia folded up the paper and and then sat it on Rose's desk. Since they were sitting in the very back row, Mr. Sataogi couldn't see the paper being passed. Rose ignored it for a few seconds and then sat it back on Julia's desk, unread.

Julia wasn't to happy with that. She tried to set it back on Rose's desk, but Rose just set it back on her desk again. Finally, Julia set the note on Rose's desk and hissed,

"Just read it!" Rose listened to the lesson whole she read the note.

Let's get one thing straight, I pretty much own this school and you're not going to take anything away from me. I've been known as a girl that gets everything she wants, and that's the truth.

Rose looked over at Julia and wrote something of her own.

I couldn't care less about what you do or don't own. You think you can bent and twist me into anything that you want, but you better think again. I'm not like the other girls in this school, and I don't want anything of yours, anyway. Not right now at least.

Rose had added the last sentence just to rile Julia up. Rose folded the paper and then set it back on Julia's desk. Julia read it with wide eyes. She looked at Rose with pure hate and put the note in her notebook. Half an hour later, the bell rang and Mr. Sataogi said,

"The homework is on page twenty-three, problems twelve through thirty-five. Rose, stay so I can get you a book."

"Yes, sir." Rose said as Julia left as quickly as possible, pushing Rose out of her way. After everyone had left, Mr. Sataogi looked at Rose and asked,

"Is Julia giving you some trouble, Rose?"

"Naw. Not anything I can't handle."

"Are you sure?" Mr. Sataogi asked as he handed Rose her book.

"Yeah. Thanks for your concern, though, Mr. Sataogi." Rose said as she took a small notebook "The homework was page twenty-three, right?"

"Yes. Problems twelve through thirty-five."

"Thank you." Rose called as she left the room. By the time that Rose got to her locker, the hallways were empty. She put away her books and headed to the cafeteria. Rose was eating her lunch when Julia and two other girls walked up and sat down at the table. Rose ignored them adn continued eating. Julia seemed nervous about the silence, so she talked first.

"You think you're all big and bad, but you're not. You may have been a big shot in your last school, but you're nothing here." Rose finished a bite of food and said,

"I don't think I'm all big and bad, and I haven't stepped a foot into a public school building since i was eight years old."

"Please, that doesn't make you cool."

"I never said I was cool, either." Rose said as she finished another bite.

"Do you really have to eat while I talk to you?" Julia asked.

"Well, considering that I'm not anarexic and I tend to get sick when I skip meals, yes, I do have to eat while you talk." Rose answered.

"Don't you have anything to say about anything else I've said?"

"Does it really look like I care?" Rose asked, finishing her meal. "I didn't think so. If you still need to talk to me, stay here. I'll be right back." Rose said as she stood to put her tray away. Before she sat down, Rose got another milk. As she sat down, Juli said,

"Why won't you listen?"

"I was listening."

"No. what I mean is shut up and listen to EVERYTHING I have to say like everyone else does."

"I've already told you, I'm not like everyone else. I don't really care what everyone else does and I don't listen unless I think it's important."

"What?"

"Do I have to explain it in idiot terms? I don't care what you say." Rose said as she opened her milk carton.

"What! Did I just hear what I thought I heard? Becky, did you hear that right?"

"If you heard what I heard, then yes."

"Do you have to run everything through your friends? Are you that blonde?"

"Of course not."

"Yeah, right. I bet that's your natural ahir color."

"It is."

"Yep. That proves it."

"Proves what?"

"That you're an idiot."

"I am not an idiot! I'm probably a lot more smarter than you!" Just as Julia said that, Rose had taken a drink of her milk. Rose tried to swallow the milk before she started to laugh, but couldn't so it. Rose spewed milk all over Julia's white shirt. She jumped up, causing her chair to fall over. This caused everyone to look at her. Julia blushed through her tan adn said,

"You'll pay for this!"

"It was just a little white mile, it won't stain. I gotta go. I need to find my next class before the hallway gets crowded. Thanks for the laugh!" Rose said as she left Julia and her friends to clean her up.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

"Hey, Rose. How was school?" Rose's grandmother, Videl, asked.

"Pretty good. Got a ton of homework, though."

"That's good. have you mad any friends yet?"

"No. Not yet." Rose answered, deciding to leave out the cafeteria scene. "I guess I oughta go get started on my homework."

"Ok. Dinner will be ready in about an hour."

"Ok." Rose said as she walked backward toward the door. Just as she turned around, she ran straight into her gradnfather, Gohan.

"Oops. Try not to run into me next time. How was school?" Goahn asked with a chuckle.

"Great. I was just heading upstairs to do my homework."

"Ok. If you need some help, just come find me, alright?" Goahn said. He was a scholar and was working at the loacal college.

"Alright." Rose answered, heading upstairs. Up in her room, Rose put on some music abd started on her homework. She was halfway done when her mind wondered back to the day her mother died. She always wondered if she could have done something different to change things.

After about fifteen minutes, she caught herself and once again focused on her homework. When it was time for dinner, she had almost done all of it done. She went downstairs to sit at the table. It was a normal dinner until Gohan looked at Videl and she nodded. Had grandpa found out about what happened at lunch? Was he angry about it if he did, Rose thought to herself.

"Rose, I think that you're old enough to know something about your mother." Gohan said.

"What is it?"

"She left a large trust fund for you. We were going through some of her papers a few years ago and found the paperwork. We decided to wait and tell you your senior year in high school so you could use it for college."

Rose was stunned. She couldn't believe it. Her mother must have been saving money ever since she was born.

"How much is it?" Rose asked.

"One hundred thousand zenny." Gohan answered.

"What? That much? That can support me through all four years!" Rose cried.

"What are you planning on studying?" Videl asked.

"Teaching."

"Really? What level?"

"Elementry."

"That's nice. I'm here to support you one hundred percent. And if you change your mind, that's fine. You don't have to choose and stick with one."

"I had chose teaching when I was eight, when grandma Chi chi started to teach me. I think that if I was going to change that, I would have done so a long time ago."

"Yeah, I think so, too. I can see that you have gotten some of her traits. As long as you're happy, that's all that matters." Gohan answered. The rest of the meal was animated with Rose's future plans.

After dinner, Rose went back upstairs, finished her homework, and then went to bed. She couldn't believe that she was covered for college funds. Rose fell asleep thinking of her mother's smile and how beautiful it had made her look.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

The next morning at school, Julia was at the door when Rose arrived. Rose just walked past her, not even noticing she was there. Rose never realized that Julia had followed her to her locker, either. Catching sight of her locker, Rose stopped dead in her tracks. the lover was covered with paper. On the paper, written in bright red, was;

Hey, guys. Looking for a good time? Drop a note in my locker and I'll get back to you.

There was a hole in the paper to expose the number of the locker. Rose knew exactly who had done it. She spun around to go find Julia, but didn't have to go far. Julia was standing right behind her, laughing. It took all Rose had to keep her anger in check. She knew she could very easily put Julia in the hospital, let alone kill her.

"Whatcha gonna do? Go tell Mrs. Woolman?" Julia teased. Rose shook her head. "Then what?"

"I'm gonna wait and pull the rug out from under your feet when you least expect it." Rose said as calmly as she could.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You'll find out." Rose spat as she tore the paper from her locker. As she crumpled it up, she turned to look at Julia. Rose guessed she had a look on her face that scared Julia, because she shrank back.

"Don't you dare touch me." Julia said shakily. Rose smiled and poked Julia's shoulder with her free hand. Then she threw the paper in her hand in Julia's face, hitting her in the nose, turned and got her books, adn left.

Rose went to her locker before she left school and found three notes. Great, Rose thought as she walked outside. Now this. I was hoping that no one had seen that. Rose walked through the city, and then took to the air after she was sure that no one was around. Out of couriosity, Rose read them. The first one said,

Hey,

Hope what your locker said was true. If it was, meet me up in the art room during lunch tomorrow. Me and you might become good friends.

How disgusting, Rose thought as she ripped the note up and put it in her pocket. She opened the second one.

I'm looking for a good time. Wait for me at your locker after school tomorrow and we'll go someplace quite.

Rose shook her head in disgust as she ripped it up and stuck it in her pocket with the first one. The last note was a little longer and most interesting of the three.

Hi. I've been watching you throughout the day and I can tell you're not like that. And I know who done it. She's my girlfriend. I know how she can be. She deserves what she gets. I hope you didn't take this too badly. You seem like a really sweet person.

This one Rose put in her pocket without ripping up. By this time, she could see her house over the trees, so she decided to walk the rest of the way.

Rose was in her room doing her homework when there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." Rose said, putting down her pencil. Gohan opened the door and entered the room.

"Rose, why were you so quite durning dinner?" Gohan sat on her bed as he asked her.

"Just thinking." Rose responded. She wasn't about to tell him what had happened at school.

"About yesterday?"

"Yeah." Rose said. That wasn't completely untrue. She had been thinking about that off and on today, too.

"Well, your mother loved you and wanted you to have a good life. She started to save money right after she married your father. After she saved a thousand zenny, she put it in the bank. It took almost a year to get that money in the bank, and she didn't get pregnant with you for another five.

"At first she thought she'd never have a child. Me and your grandmother never saw her so happy in our lives. We never knew she re-married, and we never saw her again until you ended up on our doorstep." Goahn said.

"So, you could say I was her little miracle?"

"I guess so. How is your homework coming?"

"Great. I'm almost done."

"Ok. I'll be in my office if you need anything."

"Ok." Rose said as Gohan left the room. Rose finished her homework and took out her letter. It was from Julia's boyfrined. Should I blackmail her with it? But that would make what was on my locker seem true. But then agian, it would make it seem like her boyfriend didn't love her anymore, Rose thought to herself.

No, I won't stoop to her level. Rose thought about it for a while and then went to bed. She fell asleep trying to figure out who Julia's boyfriend was.

The next morning, Rose found two more notes in her locker. Neither of them were from Julia's boyfriend, so she threw them away. Nothing happned until lunch. Rose was eating at her usual table when Julia walked up.

"I thought you were suppose to be up in the art room? It's the talk of the school."

"Do you believe everything you hear?"

"Only what I want to hear."

"I guess you oughta get outta that habit. It just failed you."

"Someone on the defensive today?"

"No. This is normal."

"Why don't you head up to the art room?" Julia said loud enough for everyone in the cafeteria to hear. When she was sure that she had everyone's attention, she continued. "Someone's waiting for you."

"No, thanks." Rose said just as loud, if not louder. "Why don't you take my place? He might know your body better." The cafeteria was as quite as a cemetary. Julia's mouth fell open as if her jaw muscles had stopped working.

"You might want to close your mouth, you're going to attract flies." Rose said as he got and left.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Rose was glad when Friday rolled around. Nothing had happened to her since Julia was insulted. Maybe I knocked her head back down to size, Rose thought to herself as she headed to lunch. Rose was staring off into space when a guy walked up. She looked up and saw that he was about six foot tall, good-looking, had big, hazel/green eyes and light brown hair. Rose couldn't believe that she never noticed him before.

"May I sit here?" he asked.

"If you don't mind sitting with the laughing stock and whore of the school."

"No. I was wondering if you had gotten my note." the boy said as he sat.

"All depends. What did it say?" Rose asked, hoping for the best.

"That I was Julia's boyfriend."

"Yeah. That's the only one I kept."

"I'm flattered."

"If you knew what the other ones said, you wouldn't be." Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"That bad, huh? Well, My name's Tom. What's your's?"

"Rose."

"I like that name. You're new, right?"

"Yep. Just started Monday. The people are so friendly here." Rose said sarcasticlly.

"Well, if that's how you welcome someone, I want no part in it." Just as Tom finished talking, Julia walked up.

"Tom, why are you sitting at the slut table?" Rose almost saw red. Tom must have seen the anger in her face, because he said,

"Well, seeing that it's lunch time, and there's food in front of me," Tom took a bite out of his cheeseburger for emphesis, "I'd have to day that I'm eating my lunch. Would you care to join us?"

"No." Julia spat and went to sit with her friends.

"I hope I haven't gotten you in trouble." Rose said, looking down at the table, feeling bad.

"Nope. The most she'll do is break up with me. And I'm not afraid of that." Tom said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She'll live. She's just the jealous type, that's all."

"Oh."

"So, where did you go to school before you came here?" Tom asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, I was home schooled from the age of eight."

"Really? Is home schooling easier?"

"No. It's pretty much the same. My great-grandmother would lay on the homework pretty thick. She had me two years ahead of myself for a little bit, but saw that it was too hard for me, and then put me back on track after about three months."

"Wow. You must make pretty good grades. Wait, your _great_-grandmother? Is she still alive?"

"Yes. And she's still healthy as a horse."

"That's amazing."

"Sure is."

"I always wanted to be home schooled, but my mom wouldn't do it."

"It gets kinda lonely."

"I bet you missed all your friends."

"You never had any friends?"

"No. I guess that's why Julia doesn't like me." Just as Rose finished her lunch, the bell rang.

"See you monday." Tom said as he left.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

That Monday, Tom was waiting at Rose's locker. He was starring off into space until she walked up. He came back to the present and then looked at her and smiled.

"Good morning!" Tom said as Rose opened her locker. As Rose was getting her books, Julia walked up.

"What is it, Julia?" Rose asked when she turned around to face her.

"Why are you hanging around that tramp?" Julia asked, ignoring Rose's question.

"Why do you hate her so much, Julia? Do you even know anything about Rose?" Tom shot back at her. Julia gave Rose a nasty look and said,

"No. But what gives you the right-"

"The right to what, Julia? To be nice to the person that's finally put you in your place? To become friends with someone that never had a friend before? Is that it?" Tom said, interupting her.

Julia was flustered. She looked as mad as a wet hen. Her eye got big and she shouted,

"Since you like her so much, we're over! I hope I never see you again! I never loved you, anyway!" She spun and stormed off, pushing people out of her way.

"This is all my fault." Rose whispered, looking at the floor.

"Naw. It was coming. I didn't thik we'd last, anyway." Tom said. "hey, don't look so down. It's ok, really." He explained when Rose still didn't seem convinced.

A few weeks later, Tom wasn't at Rose's locker when she arrived at school, like he had been every morning. I hope he's not sikc, Rose thought. When she opened her locker, she sawa single, long-stemed red rose on top of her books. Underneath that, there was a folded up piece of paper. She picked it up and read it.

Rose,

I'm sorry I couldn't be at your locker this morning. I had to go out of town to the dentist. I'll be back before school's out. Meet me back at your locker after school. I have something to tell you.

Tom

I wonder what he would have to tell me, Rose thought as she smelled the flower. She turned around to come face to face with Julia.

"You meant for this to happen, you little slut. You meant to take Tom away from me. I'm warning you. You better stay away from Tom, or there's gonna be hell to pay." Julia said as tears welled into her big hazel eyes. She turned and almost ran. Rose closed her locker and headed to class.

Rose was glad that fourth period was the only calss she had with Julia. She seemed very tense. Rose was afraid that Julia would lunge at her at any second, but she never did. After class, Julia lingered as Rose gathered her things. When Rose got to the door, Julia fell into step beside her.

"Remember what I said." Julia hissed and hurried to the cafeteria. When Rose had sat down with her tray, Tom hadn't gotten back yet. Rose was still wondering what Tom had to tell her while she ate her lunch. Julia passed Rose's table as she took her tray up, but didn't even look at her.

Rose was glad to hear the fifth hour bell to ring. She went to her locker and got her things. the rest of the day seemed to take forever. Rose almost flew to her locker. She waited for Tom for a few moments, and saw Julia. "Oh, great." Rose mumbled under her breath. Julia gave her a nasty look, but didn't stop. Rose looked back down the hallway and saw Tom walking toward her.

"Hi. Did you get my gift?" Tom asked as he approached.

"Yes. It's beautiful."

"How was your day?"

"Great." Rose lied, deciding not to tell Tom what Julia had said.

"Let me take you home." Tom offered.

"I don't know. I live a good ways out." Rose protested.

"Another reason to let me drive you home. I need to talk to you."

"Ok." Rose said as she and Tom left the building.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Rose asked as they left town.

"Well, there's something that I've wanted to tell you since I met you. I think I've grown very fond of you."

"Really?" Rose asked, turning as red as the flower on her lap. "What about Julia? Weren't you two going to make up?"

"I wasn't planning on it. I think I'd rather be with you."

"I don't know, Tom. Julia's been saying some things to me." Rose blurted. Tom looked at her like he couldn'y believe it.

"What did she tell you, Rose?"

"She threatened me to stay away from you. She told me that if I didn't, there would be hell to pay. Please don't do anything drastics, Tom. I'm not worth the trouble."

"No, you're not. You're worth more. But, since you asked, I won't. Don't worry about her. She'll be fine. She doesn't like to be hurt, and she thinks that if she has to suffer, everyone else does, too."

"That sounds about right."

"Hey! you never answered my question." Tom said, suddenly changing the subject.

"Huh? What question?" Rose asked.

"The question of if you wanna be my girl or not."

"What? Are you serious?" Rose asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be? You're beautiful, smart, funny, kind. What more could someone ask for?"

"Tom, you're making me blush." Rose said, turning her head. "Yes, I will."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"May I ask you a question?"

"Go for it."

"What do you think about me?"

"I must admit, you are a good looking guy. But let that go to your head. I also think that you're a sweet and kind person." Rose added.

"Really? Well, as I said before, I think that you're beautiful. Even more beautiful than Julia. And not just from looks." Rose was flattered. Once again, she was as red as the flower she know looked at in her lap.

"Rose! You're blushing!" Tom exclaimed, a smile on his face.

"Well, I never really had anyone compliment me like that, besides family. But you know how they can be."

"Yeah. I'd like to meet your family. What are your parents like?" Tom asked

"My father died the same day my mother found out she was pregnant with me and my mother died when I was ten. I live with my grandparents."

"Oh. I'm sorry I asked."

"No. It's ok. It gives me a reason to remember my mother."

"Well, that's a good thing. Was she nice?"

"Yes."

"What did she look like?"

"When she was alive, and we went into town together, people would swear that if were the same age, we would be twins."

"Wow. That close, huh?"

"Yep."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 8

"How much farther?"

"Just a couple minutes."

"You really do live a long way out."

"You could say that. There it is, in that clearing. You should come in and meet my gradnparents. They don't bite, I promise." Rose teased as Tom shut off the car.

"Ok."

As they walked inside, Rose said, "Grandma! I'm home! I have someone for you to meet!" Videl and Gohan walked into the living from the kitchen. They stopped when they saw Tom.

"And who might this be?" Gohan asked, walking up to Tom.

"The name's Tom, sir. Ma'am." Tom said, nodding toward Videl as he shook Gohan's hand.

"My name's Gohan, and this is my wife, Videl. It nice to see that Rose has finally made a friend."

"Boyfriend, actually." Rose corrected.

"And when did this happen?" Videl asked, smiling.

"Just on the way back from school, ma'am." Tom said, putting his arm around Rose. Rose looked up at him and smiled.

"Would you like a glass of sweet tea?" Videl asked.

"I'd love to, but my mom is probably worried sick about me. I better go before they sned a search party. It was nice meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow, Rose." Tom said, kissing her on the cheek. Rose walked him out to his car. Before Tom opened his door, he turned to her and asked,

"I didn't embrass you by kissing you in there, did I?"

"No."

"Good. Then this shouldn't embrass you, either." Tom said, kissing her on the lips. The kiss lingered for a few minutes, and then Tom stepped back.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Tom said again as he opend the car door.

"Yeah, you, too." Rose said as he started the engine. Rose watched as the car drove out of sight. When she got back into the house, Videl was standing at the kitchen door.

"When did you meet Tom?" Videl asked as she and Rose walked into the kitchen.

"About the end of my first week. His last girlfriend broke up with him because he was my frined. He told me he was expecting it though."

"So, does his ex have something against you?"

"I don't know." Rose lied. "If she does, I can take care of it."

"You be careful around people like that. I was raised a city girl and I know how they can be."

"Grandma, you know I can take care of myself. I mean, ny grandfather is the Great Sayiaman and my grandmother is the Great Sayagirl. What could go wrong?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9

The week seemed to take forever. Friday morning, Rose walked up to her locker, and there stood Tom, like he had been every morning since they had met.

"Good morning." Rose said as she gave Tom a quick kiss on the lips.

"Well, good morning to you, too. Are we in a good mood today?"

"I'm always in a good mood as long as I can see you." Rose said as she opened her locker. There was a note on top of her books.

"Tom, is this from you?"

"No."

"Well, let's see who it's from." Rose said as she opened the note.

I told you there'd be hell to pay

"Julia." Rose said as she handed the note to Tom. He shook his head as he read it. Rose took it back and re-read it. As she was reading it, Tom said,

"Uh-oh." Rose folded the note and looked up to see Julia and her friends walking toward them. Tom took Rose's hand and was going to walk around them, but they stopped in front of them.

"Hey, did you hear about my new boyfriend, Becky?"

"No. Is he anyone I know?" Becky asked, flipping her long brown hair back over her shoulder.

"No. He's in college. I might be able to convince him to have one of his friends meet you."

"That'd be nice." Becky said as she looked up at Rose and Tom. Julia turned and looked at them.

"Oops. Were we in your way?"

"Julia, if you think that's gonna work, think again. You tried that before and it didn't work then, either. And if you are with someone, good for you. Glad to see that you've moved on just like I have. Come on, Rose." Tom said as he took Rose's hand and pushed past Julia. Rose looked back at Julia and saw that she was beet red, even through her carmel-colored tan.

"She's done that before?" Rose asked when they slowed down.

"Yeah. I eventually got tired of hearing hertying to make me jealous, so, I asked her to take me back." Tom explained.

"So, you never really wanted to be with her?"

"The first time I did. The second, no. That was to get her to shut up. I'm glad she broke it off. If I had been the one to do it, she would have accused me of cheating on her with you. that's not really something you need on your shoulders."

"What if she really wasn't lying? Wouldn't you be the tinniest bit jealous?" Rose asked with a smile.

"No. Besides, I have someone much better." Tom said as the five minute homeroom bell rang. "I won't be here for lunch. I'm going to go get my hair cut." Tom said right before they went their seprate ways to go to homeroom.

"Ok. I'll see you after school!" Rose said as Tom disappeared into the throng of students making their way to class.

At lunch, Rose walked over to Julia's table. She stood there and waited for Julia to notice her. After a few minutes, Becky looked up and said,

"What do you want?"

"Nothing from you." Rose retorted, causing Julia to turn around.

"What? Did you come to congradulate me for finding someone better than that low-life Tom?"

"He's not a low-life. If there are any low-lives in this school, you're the queen." Rose said with an icey voice. "When's this crap gonna stop?" Rose asked suddenly, throwing the note on the table in front of Julia.

"However long it takes you to break up with Tom."

"Well, to my knowledge, that ain't gonna be happening anytime soon."

"Well, then, it isn't going to stop." Julia said, putting emphasis on the words isn't and going.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you were mean to me your first day here."

"What?"

"Remember that note you wrote me?"

"Yeah. But that was a very rude note."

"Me? Rude?"

"Oh, please."

"I think you owe me an apology."

"Me? Owe you an apology? I don't think so. What I wrote in that note was the truth. The truth hurts, but has no sorries."

"You'll regret saying that." Julia said.

"Really? How? You gonna spread another rumor?"

"Maybe."

"What else would you do? You wouldn't dare hit me. You wouldn't want to break a nail." Rose teased. Julia was up in an instant and almost touching noses with Rose.

"Julia, please don't stand that close." By this time, the whole cafeteria was watching.

"Why not? Scared?" Julia asked, a smirk on her face.

"No."

"Then why?"

"I don't swing that way. No wonder Tom didn't want to be with you. That and you need a mint. What did you eat for lunch?" Rose said, just to be mean. That set Julia off. She pushed Rose away from her.

"I'd take that back if I were you, Rose." Julia rasped.

"What for? Is the little princess going to try and stop me?"

Julia walked up and slapped Rose across the face. Rose's head truned from the force, and Julia smiled. Rose turned back to look at Julia, a smile on her own face. Julia couldn't believe it. Rose straightened up and looked Julia straight in the eyes.

"That didn't hurt." Rose said, a red hand mark appearing on her cheek. Julia recovered from the shock quickly and punched Rose in the jaw. Once again, Rose's head turned from the blow. When Rose turned her head back this time, she was laughing. Julia's eyes grew wide and she cried,

"What the hell are you?"

"Your worst nightmare. Rose responded, then punched Julia square in the nose, which knocked her out.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

Gohan and Videl both came in steaming. They both practically flew when they saw Rose sitting in the office.

"How could you do this?" Gohan asked, almost screaming.

"I got tired of it. I wasn't going to let her threaten me or Tom anymore."

"Rose you should have come to us. Or a teacher." Videl said, her voice just as loud.

"What would they have done!" Rose screamed back. "Tell her to stop? And like that would help? She'll be fine. It was only a little tap. Look, she's already up." Rose said, looking up to see Julia standing at the door.

You'll pay for this!" Julia screamed and lunged toward Rose. The air was knocked out of her as she and Julia fell to the floor. Julia sat on Rose's chest and started to strangle her. Rose pushed Julia off her and stood up.

"Julia, won't you ever get it? You'll never be able to take me down. Just give up."

"No. I'll never give up. Not until I get Tom back." Julia said.

"He's with me.He never wanted to be with you the second time. He just wanted you to shut up. He was over you a long time ago. Here, let me help you up." Rose offered.

"No! You leave me alone! You're lying! Tom loves me! You're just a plaything to him! He'll get tired of you and come back to me, I know he will!" Julia screamed, crying. All Rose could do was grab her bag and run to the restroom. While she was there, she wrote Tom a note.

Tom,

Sorry I wasn't able to see you today. Come by the house and see me. I really need to talk to you.

Rose stuck the note in Tom's locker and then went back to the office. When she walked in, Gohan and Videl stood.

"Are you ok?" Gohan asked, his voice much more calm now.

"Yes, I'm fine now." Rose answered.

"Ok. The principal has excused you for the rest of the day."

"Good. I wanted to go to bed, anyway."

"Is Rose home?" Tom asked when Gohan answered the door.

"Yes. Come on in. She's up in her room." Gohan said, showing him the way up the stairs.

"Thank you, sir."

"No problem. Please, call me Gohan."

"Ok." Tom said as they reached Rose's room. Gohan knocked and they heard a muffled "come in". Gohan opened the door and said,

"You have a visiter." Then he stepped back and let Tom in. After Tom entered, Gohan shut the door and went downstairs.

"Rose, are you ok?"

"I guess so."

"Julia told me that she beat the hell out of you. I didn't think she was telling the truth. She also told me that if I was to cause this much trouble between you two, that you didn't want me. That's not true, is it?"

"No. I'm happy being with you. If I was unhappy, you would know. And she was the one that lost the fight. All I got was a red mark on my face. My turn to ask a question. When I was in the office with my grandparents, Julia woke up and came out and said that I was nothing but a plaything to you. That you would get tired of me and then go back to her. Is that true?" Rose asked, tears in her eyes.

"Rose, why would I do that to you? I think that I fell in love with you the first time I ever saw you. I have no desire to hurt you in that way." Tom explained.

"Really?" Rose asked, the tears in her eyes rolling down her cheeks.

"Of course! I would never want to break your heart!" Tom exclaimed.

"Go ahead and sit down. So, Julia stayed for the rest of the day?"

"Yes. I talked to her sixth hour." There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Rose called. The door opened and Videl walked in.

"Hey, guys. Sorry to interupt, but I brought up some sweet tea. Would you like to stay for supper, Tom?" Videl asked as she handed him his tea.

"Sure. Umm," Tom said, looking around the room, "I'll just use Rose's phone to call my mom."

"Ok."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I enjoy having company." Videl said as she left.

"Wait," Tom said after she closed the door, "is that the Videl I'm thinking of?"

"Don't know. Which one are you thinking of?"

"Mr. Satan's daughter?"

"Yes. He's my great-grandfather."

"Wow. You're so lucky. That's really amazing."

"Uh-oh."

"What?"

"You don't love me just because I'm related to grandpa Hurcule, do you?" Rose teased.

"Now, why would I go and do that for? I bet I can prove to you that I didn't fall in love with you for your family."

"Whatcha gonna bet?" Rose asked.

"My love for you."

"Oh, nice bet. You're on." Tom got up and walked over to the bed. He leaned down and gave Rose a passionite kiss.

"So, that's your proof?"

"It's gonna have to work."

"Ok. You better call your mom before she begins to worry."

"Yeah. I guess I oughta." Tom said as he picked up the phone and started to dial the number.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Julia left Rose alone for a while after the fight. Everything was going great for Rose. She was doing well in school, she and Tom were stronger than ever, and Rose thought that the school year had taken a turn for the better. For the first time in almost three months, Julia walked up to Rose and Tom's table.Rose looked up and asked in a very kind voice,

"Is there anything you need, Julia?"

"Tom, can I talk to you alone?" Julia asked.

"Sure. I'll be right back, Rose." Tom saod, kissing her on the cheek. Rose watched them walk to Julia's table and sit down. After a few seconds, Julia started to talk. Rose couldn't hear because of the noise of the rest of the people talking. A few mintues later, Julia was crying. Tom put his around her and seemed to be comforting her.

Eventually, Julia stopped crying, and Tom was still cheering her up. Julia suddenly put her arms around him and kissed him full on the lips. Rose was stunned, so it seemed that Tom was, too. Rose could feel her anger rising, and it was all she could do to just keep it in check.

Tom pulled back and cried loud enough for Rose to hear,

"Hey! Let go of me!" He stood up and walked back toward the table, Julia screaming after him,

"You know you want me back, Tom! You can't live without me! I know you'll drop that whore and come back to me!" Rose saw red. Before she knew what she was doing, she was past Tom, to Julia's table, and punched Julia in the face. As Julia was lifting herself off the floor, Rose screamed,

"Haven't I told you before that he doesn't want you? And I'm NOT a whore! I haven't slept with every guy I've dated like you have, Julia!"

Julia was on her feet by the time Rose had finished. Shaky, but on her feet. Julia smiled and said,

"You've slept with Tom, I know you have."

"No, I haven't. Ask him if you don't believe me." Rsoe said, pointing at Tom. "Do you think a guy would lie about something like that?"

"No. Tom? Did you sleep with her?" Julia asked, turning to him.

"No, I didn't."

"You're still a whore!" Julia screamed, turning back to Rose. That set Rose off. Before Julia could do anything, Rose was sitting on her chest, punching her in the face over and over again. Tom had to get another guy to help him pull Rose off Julia.

"Rose! That's enough! You're going to kill her!" Tom screamed as he grabbed her and dragged her a little ways from Julia.

"That would be a favor!" Rose screamed in Julia's general direction. Julia was lying on the floor, barely breathing. She was bleeding very badly from her mouth and nose. Tom took Rose back to their table and made her sit down.

"Rose. Rose, look at me." Tom saod. Rose looked up at him, looked at Julia, who was now being taken to the nurse's office, and back at Tom. She looked at him for a few seconds and then burst into tears. Tom put his arms around her to sooth her. A few minutes later, Mr. Sataogi walked up and told Tom,

"She needs to report to the office. Do you think that you can make sure she gets down there alright?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Sataogi." Tom replied, helping Rose stand.

"Julia has been taken to the hospital. Her nose is broken, she has lost for teeth, and you fractured five of her ribs." Mrs. Vanderbelt, the principal, told Rose after Gohan and Videl arrived. "Rose, we cannot tollerate this kind of behavior. We will have a board meeting about this next week. There, we will decide if you will remain in this school."

"Are you talking about expelling me?" Rose asked.

"Yes. We really don't have any other choice. When you fractored Julia's ribs, each one punctured a lung. Three on the left, two on the right. If Tom hadn't pulled you off of her, Julia might be dead right now. Until the board meeting, you are to remain in suspension. Is tha understood?" Mrs. Vanderbelt explained. Rose couldn't believe that she was being expelled because of Julia.

"What about a home-school plan if she's expelled?" Videl asked. "Gohan can teach her. As you know, she has been home schooled before. And if she does get the home school plan, can she still attend school functions?"

"Yes, we've done that before. If she does, she can walk with her class, and she can be invited to prom. But that's it. Nothing else without special permisson. If you are in any clubs, you'll have to drop out of them."

"Ok. Do you also vote on the home schooling?" Rose asked.

"Yes. Since you have such high grades, you will probably get a majority vote."

"Good. As long as I can still get my diploma, I'm happy." Rose said.

"We will send notice in a few days of when to come back for your hearing." Mrs. Vanderbelt said, seeing Rose and her parents to the door. As they walked out into the main office, Tom stood.

"Well?" Tom asked as Rose walked up to him and hugged him. Then she started to cry. "What? What's wrong?" Tom asked, alarmed.

"I might get expelled, Tom."

"Oh, no. When do they decide?"

"Next week."

"What will you do until then?"

"I'm suspended until then. Tom, will you come see me after school today?"

"Sure."

"You can go to class now, Tom." Mrs. Vanderbelt said.

"Ok. Rose, I'll see you tonight, ok? Don't worry. Everything will be fine." Tom said, trying to cheer her up.

"I guess so." Rose said as she and her grandparents left the office.

Rose acted as if she had fallen asleep on the way back home. I guess they were to upset to fly, Rose thought. Once they got home, Rose went straight to her room and locked the door. She sat at her desk and thought about what had happened.

What happens if I really do get expelled? Will grandma and granpa take away my trust fund? Will they hate me for life? If mom was still alive, would she hate me, too? A while later, there was a knock on her door.

"Rose, may I come in?" Videl asked.

"Just a second." Rose called back, just realizing she had been crying.As she got up to unlock the door, Rose wiped away her tears. She unlocked the door and let her gradnmother in.

"Rose. You've been crying. I can also tell it's more than just what happened today. Sit down and tell me what's wrong." Videl invited as he sat on Rose's bed. Rose sat in her desk chair and looked at her hands.

"I'm afraid that you and grandpa hate me for what happened. I never expected anything like this to happen."

"We don't hate you, Rose. I just never expected it to happen, either."

"Do you think that mom would hate me for what happened if she was still alive?"

"No. She loved you too much to be mad at you for more than five minutes."

"Am I still getting my trust fund?"

"Of course! Don't think that we're going to deny you your education over a small setback such as this. You heard what principal Vanderbelt said. There is always the home schooling."

"What if they say no?"

"I don't think that they will. They can't deny you an education, either, Rose. What caused you to attack her? Did she always bother you about things like that?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

"Since my first day. She wrote me a note saying that I had to go by what she said like everyone else, and I told her I wasn't like everyone else."

"That's what started all this?"

"Yes." All of a sudden, a thought came to her mind. Her face must have lit up because Videl asked,

"What is it, Rose?"

"She meant for something like this to happen!"

"What do you mean?"

"The last way she threatened me," Rose said, looking through her purse, "was this note." she finished when she found it. She held it up and said,

"This note states that there'll be hell to pay. That's all it says. And it's in Julia's handwriting." Rose said as she handed Videl the note.

"Rose, this might help you win at the board meeting."

"And if it doesn't?"

"Then there's always home school. You didn't seem to mind it before."

"I think I liked it better."

"I bet. Either way, though, you still get to walk. That's all that I'm worried about."

"Me, too." Rose said.

Two days later, the notice for Rose's hearing arrived. It was to be on the Wednsday of the following week. They were to be there at one o' clock that afternoon. The days seemed to drag on forever. The only thing Rose looked forward to was seeing Tom. He came and visited every day. Finally, after what seemed like a year to Rose, the day of the board meeting arrived. Rose dressed into something nice and waited to leave.

At one o' clock, Rose, Videl, and Goahn drove into town. They got to the school and waited in the office. After what seemed like a few hours, but was actually only about 20 minutes, Rose was called into the board room.

"Rose, please explain why you shouldn't be expelled from this school." Mrs. Vanderbelt said.

"I there are good, honest, reasons that I shouldn't be expelled. One being that it is not right to expell the one that has been bullied from the first day she started here. The person at fault is Julia, for she thinks she can manipulate the whole student body in any way she sees fit.

"The first day I came here she wrote me a note saying that she owns me. To my knowledge, she still has this note. The last threat in writing is this note." Rose said as she handed it to Mrs. Vanderbelt. "It is one sentence long and it states, and I quote, 'I told you there'd be hell to pay'. For all you and I know, she may have planned on something like this to happen. She has seemed to want to get into this kind of trouble no matter what the cost.

"This is all I can give as a reason to not expell me. But, if you do not find this reason enough, please allow me to do the home school program. My lowest grade is a high B and I don't want to see my education go to waste. This diploma is the first big accomplishment I hope to achive in my life. Thank you for your time, and I trust you will make the right decision." Rose said in conclusion.

"Thank you, Rose. We will have your decision at three o' clock. You can come back at four and get the results." Mrs. Vanderbelt said, walking Rose to the door.

"Thank you." Rose said once again and then walked out the door, closing it behind her. She walked back to where her grandparents were sitting.

"Well?" Videl asked.

"They won't make a decision until three o' clock. Mrs. Vanderbelt said we could come back at four and get the results. Until then, we're left in the dark." Rose explained as they walked out to the car.

"Well, I think they will make the right choice. What all did you tell them?" Gohan asked, looking at Rose in the rearview mirror of the car.

"I summed up all that had happened this school year into about five minutes and also included that if they decide to expell me, that they consider granting me the home school program. There wasn't much else to tell them."

"Well, we'll come back in and get the results."

"Ok."

At three-thirty, Tom was at the house and Rose was explaining what had happened.

"Well, I could run you back into town and get the results if you want." Tom offered.

"Really? You'd do that?"

"Yes. Let's go see about it."

"Ok." Rose said, getting up, heading out of the room. Rose got downstairs and found Gohan in his office, grading some papers.

"Grandpa, is it ok if Tom takes me in to get my decision? It'll be in writing, anyway."

"Sure. I have a lot to do here, anyway. Thanks, Tom. Why don't you stay for dinner?" Gohan asked.

"Sure. Thanks. I don't think I could ever get enough of Videl's cooking."

"She gets it from my mother." Gohan said with a chuckle.

On the way into town, Rose stared out the car window.

"Don't worry, Rose. Everything will be ok. They'll probably let you stay with your grades being so high. They'd be stupid not to." Tom said, trying to cheer her up.

"I don't know. I just have this really bad feeling. But, the least they could do is give me the home school plan. They can't take my education away from me, and I'm not settling for a GED." Rose said, still looking out the window.

"Well, all we can do is hope for the best, Rose. I'm always going to be there for you, I promise." Tom said as they pulled into the school parking lot.

Inside, Tom and Rose wre waiting outside the principal's office. After what felt like an hour to Rose, Mrs. Vanderbelt called Rose in.

"Can Tom come in, too, Mrs. Vanderbelt?"

"Sure. Come on in." She answered, standing back so they could enter. Mrs. Vanderbelt closed the door and walked around her desk as Rose and Tom sat down. She sat down in her chair and placed her hands on a filefolder. "Rose, I have bad news."

"Ok." Rose whispered, looking down so neither Tom nor Mrs. Vanderbelt would see the tears in her eyes.

"We voted and the majority decided that you were a threat to this school. When we voted on the home school plan, it was extremly close. The vote was on favor of oyu, but only by one. You are very lucky, Rose. Here is a copy of the decisions. Give them to your grandfather to keep.

"I really hate losing such a good student, Rose, but you can still come to graduation, and Prom if you're invited." Mrs. Vanderbelt said, looking at Tom. By this time, Rose was able to surpress her tears and look up.

"Is it still possible to become validictorian?" Rose asked. She had heard people say that she might get it.

"Yes. I hope that you can reach that, Rose. Keep your grades up. You are already in the top five percent of your class. Never think less of yourself because of this setback." Mrs. Vanderbelt said as Rose and Tom got up to leave.

"Thank you, Mrs. Vanderbelt. When does the program start?"

"On Monday. We still need to get things straightened out."

"Ok. Tom, let's go." Rose said as she left the office. In the car, Rose almost broke down again.

"Rose, if it's going to make you feel better, cry. I can tell that you want to."

"No. I'm not going to weaken because of this. I'm not going to give her the pleasure. Of course I'm upset. But my mom wouldn't want me to fret over it." Rose said.

"You never told me what exactlly happened to your mom. Do you mind telling me?"

"No."

"Then what happened?"

"My step-father killed her."

"And how do you know that?"

"I was there when it happened."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

"Rose. No wonder you don't really trust anyone." Tom said, shock in his voice. "And you were only ten years old?"

"Yes." Rose said and watched out the window, refusing to say anymore. I can't tell him that I killed John, Rose thought. Unless he asks. I can't let our powers be uncovered. We have to remain protected until the right time. Maybe I can tell him, someday.

"Rose, we're here." Tom said. Rose looked around and saw that they were in her driveway. Tom had even turned the car off.

"How long have we been sitting here?"

"About ten minutes."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were in such deep thought that I decided to give you a little time before we went in. Do you need a few more minutes?"

"No. I'm fine. Thanks. Better go tell grandma and grandpa the news." Rose said, opening her door.

"Ok." After they walked in the kitchen door, Rose called, "Grandpa! I'm home!" Videl was making dinner, and Rose sat at the table, setting down her file as she done so. Gohan walked into the kitchen and said,

"Well, I guess it's bad news, with that face." All Rose could do was nod in agreement.

"Well, what about the home school program?"

"They voted yes." Rose said simply. "Mrs. Vanderbelt said it starts on Monday."

"Ok."

"Well, I hate to be rude, but I'm going to have to ask you all to leave so I can fix dinner." Videl said. Rose and Tom went up to her room.

"Your grandparents don't seem too affected by this." Tom said as he sat in the desk chair.

"They're fine with it as long as I can continue my education. I mean, my great-grandmother would kill me if she knew I couldn't continue my education."

"So, education is extremely important in your family?"

"You could say that." Rose said. They continued to talk until Videl came up and knocked on the door.

"It's time for dinner." She said as she poked her head into the room.

"Ok. Hungry?" Rose teased, smiling at Tom. She gracefully got up and walked behind Tom to the door.

"I love you, Rose." Tom said suddenly.

"That's the first time you've ever said that to me, Tom." Rose said, surprised.

"What? No 'I love you' back?" Tom asked, smiling.

"Yes, of course. I love you, too, Tom." Rose answered.

"That's what I thought. I don't think that I love you near enough as I love your grandmother's cooking." Tom teased.

"Oh, you better not!" Rose cried in mock fury.

"Aww, you know I couldn't love anyone or anything more than you."

"Really? Prove it."

"I will. Someday." Tom said as he headed downstairs to dinner.

After dinenr, Tom looked at Videl and Gohan and asked,

"Can I talk to you privately?"

"Um, sure. Come on, we'll talk in my office. If you'll excuse us, Rose?" Gohan asked as he, Videl and Tom stood to leave the room. As they left, Rose began to wonder what they were going to talk about. After a few minutes, she was in the past, remembering her training. I wonder how Krillin is? And Piccolo? Maybe I should start my training over again. That would be fun.

I don't have to tell Tom about my training. It would be nice to get back in shape. I can't believe that I gave up my training after what happened to mom. Maybe I was afraid that I would kill someone else. Well, I don't seem to have that fear anymore, Rose thought as she cleared the table.

Just as Rose finished with the table, Tom, Gohan, and Videl came back. They seem cheerful, Rose thought.

"Did you have a nice chat?"

"Yes. Thank you for clearing the table." Videl said.

"No problem. I didn't have anything better to do. Well, I guess me and Tom wil go back upstairs, if you don't need any help, that is."

"Nope. I think I can get it from here."

"Ok. Come on, Tom." Rose said as she left the kitchen Up in her room, Rose and Tom where talking about how Rose would fill her days.

"Well, between homework and you, there won't be much time for anything else."

"Man, I'm surprised that you haven't asked me what me and your grandparents were talking about."

"Hey, I figure that if it's about me, I'll hear about it sooner or later. I've learned not to meddle in other people's business. The hard way, but I learned." Rose said.

"How long was your mom married to your step-dad?"

"Until I was eight. Mom said that she married John while she was still pregnant with me."

"He hit you, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"Is that why you live here?"

"Yes. My mom brought me here when I was eight. I didn't think that I had any relatives intil then. I didn't know he was my step-father until then. I was so happy to get away from him, Tom."

"What caused your mom to leave him?"

"When I showed her a gash on my head from his belt."

"Did he go to prision?"

"No."

"What happened to him, then?"

"He was killed." Rose said, knowing where this was going. She promised herself that she would tell the truth if he asked.

"Do you know by who?"

"Yes." Rose said, trying to stall.

"Who?" Tom asked. Rose took a deep breath and looked at her feet. "Rose, who killed your step-father?"

"I did."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

"What? How? How old were you? Tell me the truth, Rose."

"I was ten. If I tell you the truth, you have to promise to not tell anyone else, ok?"

"Ok. I promise."

"Well, I'm not like other people, Tom. I've got a certian type of-" Saved by the phone, Rose thought as her phone rang. She picked it up and said,

"Hello? Rose speaking."

"Hi. Is Tom there?"

"Yes. Just a second. Tom, it's your mom." Rose said, handing him the phone.

"Hello? Yeah, I'm fine. I just stayed for dinner...Yes, I asked...Yes, they approved...Ok, I'll be home in a little while...Ok...I love you, too, mom...bye." Tom said as he hing up the phone. "Rose, what were you going to say?"

"Tom, I don't think that I can tell you right now. It's not that I don't trust you, I do, it's just that it's a touchy subject for me. That and I really can't put it into words right now. You're not mad at me, are you?" Rose asked.

"No. Take your time. Just tell me when you're ready. Wo got all the time in the world." Tom said as he got to leave. He walked over and kissed Rose on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow. I won't be by until at least seven. I have to take my mom to the doctor and there's some homework that I'll probably have to get done."

"Ok." Rose said, walking him downstairs and to his car. She watched Tom drive out of sight and went inside. Rose was lying on her bed, reading a book when she felt a large power level.

She ran downstairs and to Gohan's office. Gohan looked as if he was listening for something. "Grandpa! Did you feel that?"

"Yes. But I think it was Piccolo. There might be something wrong. We better go check." Gohan said, coming around his desk.

"Ok." Rose said. It had been eight years since she had done any fighting. On the way out, Gohan shouted,

"Me and Rose will be back!" As they flew toward the power, Rose said,

"Grandpa, I was thinking that I should start training again."

"That's a good idea. Hey, the power is coming from the Lookout. Remember the Lookout?"

"Yes. Let's go." Rose said. She worried the whole time up there. What if it's something serious? What are we going to do then? I'm not in good enough shape to battle. When they got there, Krillin and his wife, 18, where there.

"What'a happening?" Gohan asked as he landed on the lookout.

"I was wondering the same thing." Krillin said. they all walked up to Dende's home and Mr. Popo emerged.

"Mr. Popo, what's going on?" Gohan asked as Mr. Popo reached them.

"Dende and Piccolo are in the chamber, training." Mr. Popo answered.

"They must be traning pretty hard for us to feel it out here." 18 said.

"Yeah. That's strange. Did they say why they went in to train?" Krillin asked.

"They said they were going to mentally train."

"Well, if they're only training, I guess it was a false alarm." Gohan said. "But if Piccolo has decided to train, so should we. It shouldn't hurt anything. I just hope nothing happens too soon." Gohan said, bringing his eyebrows together with worry.

"Maybe we should have a meeting." Krillin suggested.

"Yeah. Tomorrow, you tell Yamcha and Tien to meet us up here. I'll tell Goten, Trunks, and Vegeta. Tell them to meet the day after tomorrow, ok? We all need to start training again as soon as possible."

"Right. Rose, you're looking great. How have you been?" Krillin asked.

"I could be a lot better." Rose said.

"Uh-oh. What is it? Guy trouble?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"I got expelled."

"Expelled!"

"Yes."

"Long story."

"Oh. Well, I guess we oughta get going, if this is nothing serious."

"Yeah. Me and Rose need to plan our training schedule."

"See ya!" Krillin called as he and 18 flew off.

"Ok, Rose, let's go." Gohan said. "Bye, Mr. Popo!"

"Bye, Gohan! Bye, Rose!"

"Bye, Mr. Popo!." Rose called.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14

The next day, Rose and Gohan went to see Goten. When they arrived at Goten's house, Gohan told Rose,

"We may not get him to help. He hasn't trained since he was little. All we can do is try."

"Ok." Rose said, walking up to the door. She knocked and waited for Goten to answer.

"Hey guys." Goten said when he answered the door. "Come on in." Goten offered as he moved so they could enter. "What's wrong?" he asked when he saw their faces.

"We need to start training again, Goten. Did you feel that intense power last night?"

"Yes. But it felt like Piccolo."

"He was in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, uncle Goten." Rose said.

"They were? But that's not possible, is it?"

"Well, we should take precautions. We're all meeting at the lookout tomorrow. Be there, ok? We may need your help. We need to go get the news to Vegeta and Trunks. We'll see you tomorrow, Goten." Gohan said as he and Rose headed toward the door.

"Ok. I'll be there.Good luck with Vegeta. Let's hope he's in a good mood today." Goten said with a chuckle as they walked out the door.

"Yeah, no kidding." Gohan said they flew off. When they arrived at Capsule Corp., Bulma answered the door.

"Hey, guys. It's been a while. Come on in. What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to Vegeta and Trunks. I know Trunks doesn't have to work today."

"Oh. They're out back, training. You know the way, don't you? I want to catch up with Rose. It's been a long time."

"Sure. Take your time." Gohan said as he headed toward the back of the house.

"Man, have you grown! You're just as beautiful as your mother. I talked to Videl a couple of weeks ago and I heard you got yourself a boyfriend. Is he cute?" Bulma asked.

"Very. But that's not the only reason I'm with him. He's a very sweet and caring person. I hope we stay togther even after we graduate."

"Oh? So you're both the same age?"

"He's older by a few months."

"What's his name?"

"Tom."

"Oh. Are you going to Prom next month?"

"Yes. We haven't really talked about it, but I can tell he wants to take me." As Rose said that, Gohan came back.

"Ok, I'm back. Did you two have a nice little chit-chat?" Gohan asked with a smile.

"Yes." Rose said, noting the teasing tone in his voice and smiling.

"Well, we better get going. Bye Bulma." Gohan said

"Bye. It was nice talking to you again, Rose. Come back if you want to talk for a while. I'll help you look for a Prom dress, ok?"

"Ok."

"I'll see you later!" Bulma called after them as they took to the air.

"Bye!" Rose called while they were still within earshot. It must have been a little later than Rose realized, because she sw Tom's car going toward the house. "Grandpa, what time is it?"

"About four-thirty. Why?"

"That's Tom's car. Let's get home before he does."

"Ok." Gohan said. That's strange, Rose thought. He said he wouldn't be out until seven. She looked back down and saw his car slowing down. Rose sped up and said,

"Race ya!"

"You're on!" Gohan yelled back as he sped up.

"I win!" Gohan cried as he landed in front of the house.

"You've had years of practice, though." Rose said, smiling. They went in to wait for Tom. Rose was up in her room and heard a car door slam about fifteen minutes later. She heard the doorbell ring and smiled. A few minutes later, Tom came into her room.

"Hey, Tom. You're early!" Rose said.

"Yeah. My dad came home from a run early and took mom to the doctor for me."

"Really? What does your dad do?"

"He delievers things to companies all over the place."

"Oh. He drives a big rig." Rose said.

"Yep."

"I bet you miss him while he's on the road."

"Yeah, we do. Rose," Tom said, his tone turning serious, "I know this sounds crazy, but I swear I saw two people flying today. I heard them talking, I guess they had to yell to gear each other, and one sounded like you! And the other like Gohan! Rose, was that really you?" Rose had no clue how to answer.

"It was you! But how?" Rose still couldn't say anything. "Rose, what was it that you were going to tell me last night? How did you kill your step-father?"

"Yes, that was me, and yes, I did kill my step-father. As for how I killed him..." Rose trailed.

"Yes?"

"I-I'll be right back." Rose said as she got up and rushed out of the room. She ran downstairs and into Gohan's office. Gohan looked up quickly as Rose rushed in.

"What's wrong?" He cried, standing up.

"Tom saw us, grandpa! He knows we can fly! What are we going to do?" Rose said in a rushed panic.

"It's ok. We'll go upstairs and explain it to him. Don't worry. We won't be found out by anyone else. I trust Tom, Rose. Come on." Gohan said as they left the office.

"How can you be so calm?" Rose asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Believe me, I wasn't this calm when your grandmother found out. Now, if you want, I'll explain."

"Ok." Rose said as they reached her bedroom door. As they walked in, Tom looked up with a face full of confusion.

"Is everything alright?"

"Sure. You might wanna sit down. There's some things you need to know." Gohan said. He explained and Rose watched Tom's reactions to things. His face was full of wonder and amazment.

"So, your only part human, Rose?" Tom asked.

"Well, mostly human. Grandpa Gohan is half, and then my great-grandpa Goku is full."

"You can't tell anyone, ok?" Gohan asked.

"Ok, I won't tell anyone. But, can you teach me how to fly? It looks like fun."

"Ok." Rose said.

"Is everything going to be ok?" Gohan asked, looking at Rose.

"Yep." Rose answered.

"Sorry to intrude." Tom said.

"Naw. It's fine. You'd surely have to find out sooner or later. I'm glad it was sooner." Gohan said, giving him a look that Rose didn't even notice.

"Yeah. Me, too." Tom replied as Gohan left.

"You're not mad at me for not telling you earlier, are you?"

"No. No wonder you never rode the bus or drove to school."

"Yep. Now my secret's out."

"Maybe I can learn to fly and train with you, too."

"Sure. You've heard of Cell, right?"

"Yeah. You're grandpa Hurcule defeated it."

"No, he didn't."

"He didn't?"

"No."

"Then who did?"

"Grandpa Gohan."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And Hurcule got all the credit?"

"Yes. Our lives are based around popularity and fame. They're based around doing the right thing and keeping the earth safe from evil."

"Wait. That's what happened to your step-father, wasn't it?"

"Yes. I only resort to my powers when I'm in extreme danger."

"Oh, wow. Did he almost kill you?"

"Yes. That's why I killed him. I was able to get his cell phone and call my great-grandfather. Just after I told him where I was, the phone went out."

"Oh, Rose. You had it so hard a child. No one I've ever known has had anything that could even hold a candle to your life. To bring things to a happier tone, what would you say if I told I got us tickets to the prom next month?"

"No way! You did! I can't believe it! Let me see!"

"Man, you're as hyper on a kid on Christmas candy. Just a second, I have to get them out of my wallet." Tom said as he reached for his wallet in his back pocket. "There. You keep yours, ok?"

"Ok. Tom, I can't believe this! These had to be expensive!"

"No. Seniors getin for free." Tom said, looking at the clock. "Oh, man. I hate bursting your bubble, but I really need to go. Don't give me that look. You know I won't tell anyone."

"Ok. I trust you Tom. Just don't tell nayone. Not even your mom." Rose warned.

"Ok." Tom said and kissed her. "I don't know if I'll have time or not tomorrow to come out. I have to mow the lawn."

"Ok." Rose said, bowing her head.

"Don't worry. I'm not lying. I've been trying to get to the lawn all week." Tom said, smiling.

"Ok. Call me then, ok?"

"Sure. Bye. I love you, Rose."

"I love you, too, Tom."

The next day at the lookout, Rose and Gohan were the last to arrive.

"It's about time you two showed up. You call tis stupid meeting and you're the last to arrive." Vegeta said when he saw Rose.

"Settle down, Vegeta. We have worse matters to worry about." Gohan said as he and Rose walked up. "Piccolo and Dende were training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber the other day."

"So?" Vegeta retorted. "What they do is of no concern to me."

"Me and Rose could feel their power from our house. I'm thinking that they may know that something is coming. It's not going to hurt to be in hape in case something does come."

"Yeah, that's true." Tien said.

"Tien's right, guys. We should train. I've been expecting something to happen soon, anyway." Yamcha said, looking around. It's been so long, Rose thought What if they come before I'm strong enough? Then what will happen? I can't let Tom get involved. What if he does before I relaize he does? What am I suppose to do then?

"Rose?" Gohan asked.

"Yes?" Rose answered, snapping back to relaity.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Um, yeah. Sure. Why wouldn't I be?" Rose answered as she flew off. Gohan caught up with her and asked,

"Rose, what's wrong? You seemed preoccupied."

"What if Tom ends up getting involved? Can we train him, too? Just in case? Please?"

"I guess so. We have to explain to him what's going on. He's going to have to train every afternoon and on weekends, too."

"Ok. I need to go to Bulma's house. You can head on home, and I'll be there later, ok?"

"Ok. I'll see you later."

"Bye."

Rose arrived at Bulma's and rung the bell. Bulma answered and said,

"Rose! It's nice to see you again. What bring you here?"

"I was hoping that you could help me find a dress." Rose said as they walked into the living room."

"So, you are going?"

"Yep. Tom got tickets."

"I've got some book we can look through. I'll go get them. Go ahead and sit down." By the time that they were through all twenty books, Rose had one she liked in each book. She eventually narrowed it down to five books.

"Can I take these home and get grandma and grandpa's opinion?"

"Sure. Take your time. You have a month."

"I know. But I want thise to be perfect."

"I don't blame you."

"Well, I better get going. I want to get some reading done."

"Wait. It's only ten o' clock. Why aren't you in school?"

"I'm in the home school program. I got into some trouble."

"Really? What kind?"

"We'll just say it's over Tom." Rose said as she got up.

"Uh-oh. Did he have a girlfriend when you go twith him?"

"No. She had broken up with im two weeks before we got together. She got jealous and made me mad. Last I heard, she wa sin the hospital. I don't know if she's gotten out yet or not." Rose said with no emotion at all.

"Rose! What exactly did you do to her?"

"Only what needed to be done to bring her head back down to size."

"Well, what did you do to land her in the hospital?"

"I broke five of her ribs, broke her nose, and also knocked out four of her teeth. Each rib I broke punctured her lungs."

"Rose, don't you regret that you done that?"

"Not with all the threats she's put against me. She's tried to brand me a whore, Bulma. She's also tried to turn Tom away from me and she aslo gave me unnamed threats. Would you regret it?"

"I see your point. Maybe you should go see her?"

"And giving her the pleasure of thinking she's won?" If I know Julia, she wanted something like this to happen."

"Julia? Her name is Julia?"

"Yes."

"Rose, that's the mayor's adopted daughter. that's probably what got you expelled."

"Well, appraently he doesn't have as much power as you think. I still got the home school plan."

"That was probably the school's decision. Well, the papers say that she healed just fine and well be back in school next week."

"See? She's fine. She'll live with it. I really need to get home. thanks for the help. I'll make sure to get these back to you as soon as I make a decision."

"Ok. Rose, really think about going and seeing Julia. She's getting out in a couple of days."

"I'll think about it." Rose said as she went out the door.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

A few days later, Rose returned Bulma's books to her. She went home and worked on her home work until Tom arrived.

"Tom, there's something that I need to talk to you about." Rose said after he came in and sat on her bed.

"What's wrong?"

"Me and grandpa were talking the other day, and we decided to start training. I asked if we could train you, too, and he said yes. But, before we can train you, you have to learn to fly. It makes training much easier."

"Ok. Why do you need to train?"

"Grandpa feels as if something might be comeing soon. I hope that we can train enough before they get here. I'm not trying to scare you, but I don't know what I would do if I lost you. I lost you, and I really don't wanna lose you, too."

"Don't worry, Rose. You won't lose me. I'll train all you want and all that I can, ok?"

"Ok. If you train with us, you have to come over every afternoon and even on weekends."

"Ok. I'll come over everyday. I'll train as long as you want me to. How about we start my flying lessons? The sooner the better. Man, that sounds strange saying that." Tom said with a laugh.

"Yeah. It does seem strange at first. I felt the same way. Let's go get grandpa. He can explain and I can be an example, ok?"

"Sure." Tom said as they left the room. "Rose?"

"Yes?"

"I'll love you no matter what. Don't forget that, ok?"

"I won't. I'll love you no matter what, too." Rose said, a little confused. They went downstairs to Goahn's office and Rose knocked. They entered and Gohan said,

"Ah. I see Gohan finally made it over. Is there something you need to ask?"

"He's ready for his flying lessons. We've decided I would give examples while you explained. Just tell him what you told grandma when you taught her."

"Ok. Let's get started." Gohan said, coming from around his desk. In no more than an hour, both Rose and Tom were in the air.

"I can take it from here, grandpa. Thanks." Rose said, looking down at him.

"Ok. I'll be inside if you need me." Gohan said as he went into the house.

"This is amazing." Tom said. "I never thought I'd do this! What about our training?"

"Well, have you ever sparred before?"

"What?"

"Ever taken a martial arts class?"

"Yes."

"Remember when you had to fight a partner, but never hit them?"

"Yes."

"That's what this is, kind of. Sometimes we may actually land punches. Don't get mad if I do. It helps beuild endurance that way."

"Ok."

"We'll start slow. You'll be sore, but it's worth it." Rose explained. They sparred for a couple of hours until Gohan came out and called,

"Time for dinner!" They landed and started for the house.

"Training really makes you hungry."

"Yeah. Just watch what you eat."

"Oh, ok."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

It was a week before Prom, and Rose and Tom were sitting in Rose's room after they had trained for the day.

"So, what are we doing tomorrow?"

"Well, tomorrow is your day off. I'm going to go get my stuff for Prom."

"Really? What kind of dress are you getting?"

"I'm not telling. I'm going to leave that to your imgaination. And don't you get any bad ideas, Tom. It's going to be a decent dress. More decent than what most of the girls will be wearing."

"Well, I can't wait to see it. What color tux should I get?"

"Black."

"Very tradionial."

"Well, you could get deep blue, but I think the black would look better."

"Ok. Black it is."

"Good. I hope that you like the dress. You better rest up tomorrow all you can. You're gonna need it on Sunday."

"Ok. You were right when you said I was going to be sore. I can't even bump into anyone in the hallway without it hurting."

"Think about feeling like that and being eight years old."

"Man, it's hard enough as it is."

"A nice hot bath will help with the soreness. that's why I don't hurt all that much. I also have an extra tube of sports creme if you want it."

"Sure." Tom said. Rose went to her connecting bathroom and got the sports creme.

There ya go. That should help."

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Do you really think that anything will come?"

"I'm getting this feeling that something is going to happen, and it's going to happen soon."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I just hope I'm wrong."

"Ready to go get your dress?" Videl asked the next day.

"Yes. I think it's going to be beautiful." Rose said, getting into the car.

"Well, let's go." Videl said as she got in and started the car. "I bet you can't wait to go to prom, can you?"

"No. It's going to be so much fun."

"I can still remember mine and your grandfather's prom. I felt like I was the most beautiful girl there. My best friend and her date got voted king and queen. We lost to them by only one vote."

"Wow. Only one vote? I would have demanded a recount." Rose said, smiling.

"We didn't care. We were just happy to be there."

"Wow. I just can't wait to get there." Rose said. I can't shake this feeling like something's going to happen What if I get hurt? What if Tom gets hurt? Rose shivered from the thought.

"Are you cold? Is the air up to high?" Videl asked, turning the air down a notch.

"Yeah. A little. Thanks." Rose said.

When Rose and Videl got back, Rose went ot the backyard to see Goahn and Tom sparring. Wow, Rose thought as she watched, Tom as really gotten pretty good. But we won't know how good until we see him in battle.

After a good twenty minutes, Gohan finalled landed a punch on Tom's shoulder.

"Good. That's only the second hit in five hours. I say we call it a day." Gohan said, It was getting dark, so Rose hid in the shadows. Gohan walked by her and into the house, not noticing her. Just as tom reached the door, she called his name.

"Rose. How long have you been there?"

"About twenty minutes. You've gotten pretty good. He only landed two punches in five hours?"

"It didn't seem like that long." Tom said.

"Well, let's hop eyou get better."

"What? Do you sense something, Rose?"

"No," Rose lied. "Just as a precaution. Maybe you shoudl head home, Tom. It's almost nine. You're mom might get worried."

"Yeah. Well, I'll see you tomorrow."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

It was a few days before Prom and Rose was shopping with Tom for his tux.

"I'm getting black, right?"

"Yes. I'm also getting some things."

"Like what?"

"Shoes, a handbag, jewlery."

"Oh? Will this give me a hint of what color your dress is?"

"Maybe, I don't really know. All depends on what I get."

"Oh. Well, let's go in." Tom said as he turned the car off.

"Let's go." Rose said, opening her door. Inside, rose had never seen so many tuxedos and suits in her life. "Which ones do we choose for you to try on?"

"Well, first we have to get some in my size." Tom said with a smile.

"Ok. You can choose. Surprise me. Just make sure it's black."

"Ok." About fifteen mintues later, Tom came out of the dressing room wearing a very nice tux with a handkerchief poking out of the pocket on the jacket. "Tom! You look good in that! Get that one!"

"Ok." Tom said, laughing. "I'll go get dressed and be right back."

"Ok." When Tom got back, they went to the counter.

"That was fast." The man said as he rung up the sale.

"Well, we liked the first one. Not too often that happnes."

"No, it's not. That'll be two hundred thirty-two zenny."

"Here you go."

"Out of three hundred. Sixty-eight is your change. Thanks. Have a nice day." The man said as he gave Tom his change and his new tux. When they got into the car, Rose said,

"Ok. Now to the mall."

"Alright." Tom said, pulling out of the parking lot. "Why can't you tell me the color of your dress?"

"Because it's a surprise. If I told you, what would I do to surprise you?"

"Come on, just a hint."

"No. Prom is only three days away. You can wait." Rose teased.

"Ah, man. I want to know now." Tom said like a child, laughing the whole time.

"No, no, son. You have to wait." Rose teased, laughing. When they got there, they went to get a handbag first. Rose stopped at the small handbags and looked. She would pick one up occsionally and take a closer look. Eventually she choose a black one with silver sequins that created hearts. When they went uo to pay for it, Tom said,

"Why get such a small one?"

"You don't carry that much in it. Maybe a camera, some makeup, and other bare nessecities."

"Oh. Just things you may need throughout the night?"

"Yeah."

"That'll be nine zenny." the woman at the counter said. "Out of ten. One is your change. Have a nice day."

"Thanks. You, too." Rose said as she and Tom left the store. Next, they went to get her shoes. When they entered, Rose went straight to the counter. Rose rang the bell and waited for an employee. When a woman walked out, she said,

"How may I help you?"

"Hi. I was in here last month asking for a custom-made pair of shoes?"

"Ah, yes. Just a moment, please." The attendant said, going back to the back of the store.

"Custom-made? Are you serious?"

"Yes. I couldn't find the kind I wanted, so I asked if they could order a custom-made pair, and they said yes."

"Wow. I bet they cost a fortune."

"Don't know. Haven't paid for them yet. I have a thousand zenny with me, just in case."

"How did you get that much so fast?"

"I'm not a big spender. I always save. I'm more of a bargin hunter, but I'm splurging for Prom."

"Wow. Should I feel honored?"

"If you want to. I like to splurge every now and then. It makes you feel good when you can." Rose said as the attendant came out with her shoes.

"Here you go. There was a woman here a couple of days ago. She asked for them to be kept here. No charge."

"May I ask how much they cost?"

"Ninety-five zenny."

"Thanks." Rose said as they left.

"Wow. I'm guessing that was Videl that done that? That was awful nice of her."

"It was, but I was hoping to pay for it all myself. I'll just pay her back when I get home." Rose said as they walked into a jewlery store. Rose led Tom to the earrings to look. "How about these?" Rose asked, holding up a pair of silver star earrings that almost touched her shoulder.

"I like them. Keep them in the basket and we'll look for some more."

"Ok." They chose three other pair, but decieded on the first ones.

"Ok, now a ring."

"How about a braclet instead?" Tom asked.

"Ok." Rose said. She wandered over to the braclets and started to look. Tom went to the other end and looked there. Rose had been looking for five minutes, and still hadn't found anything interesting when Tom walked back over to her.

"What about this one?"

"Let me see." Rose said, taking the braclet that Tom held. It was a series of red roses strung together.

"Roses for my Rose." Tom said with a smile.

"Oh, Tom! This is perfect!"

"Really? It was the only one."

"Wait. I thought I saw a pair of earrings to match thses, and they hang, just like these. Let's go look."

"Ok." Tom said as he headed back over to the earrings. After looking for a little while, they found them.

"You're better at shopping than I thought you would be." Rose said.

"I've always been good about shopping for others."

"Oh. Let's go pay."

"Ok." At the counter, they saw a couple looking at the wedding rings.

"Can't wait to do that one day." Rose commented as they waited.

"You'll have your chance, one day." Tom said as the cashier walked up. Rose paid for the jewlery and they left. Rose tried the bracelt on in the car. It fit perfect.

"Tom, didn't you already have a tux?"

"Yeah, but with all that training, it's gotten too small."

"Oh."

"Bet you can't wait, can you?"

"Nope."

"What about your hair?"

"I'm going to get a family friend to do it."

"Oh. Hope it looks good."

"I know it will."

"Wow. Confident. Make sure that you take your dress to your friend's house. It'll be easier to get ready there. Tell me where they live and I'll come get you there, ok?"

"Ok. They live at the capsule corparation. Just ask for Bulma."

"Bulma? As in Bulma Briefs?"

"Yeah."

"Ok. You know all kinds of well-known people, you know that?"

"Yep." Rose said as they pulled into her driveway. "I'll come get you at five thirty, ok?"

"Ok." Rose said as she leaned toward Tom so that she could grab her things from the back. Tom leaned in and kissed her. It caught Rose by surprise and it took a few seconds for her to relax. When she did, she returned the kiss. After Tom pulled away, Rose felt a little light headed, but happy. She reached back and got her things and started to get out of the car. Tom grabbed her arm and said,

"I love you."

"I love you, too, Tom. I'll see you tomorrow." Rose said, getting out of the car.

"You bet." Rose heard as she shut the door. Rose turned and waved as Tom turned the car around. Rose watched as the car went out of sight and then she went in. As she walked in, she set her bags down and took her purse off her shoulder. She opened it, calling for her grandmother at the same time.

"I owe you some money." Rose said as Videl entered the room.

"You do?"

"Yes." Rose said as she got nintey-five zenny out of her purse. "Here ya go."

"But Rose, I paid for those shoes as a gift. That was the only reason I agreed that you should get them."

"Oh."

"So, keep your money. That I know how much of a bargin hunter you are, too. Don't worry about paying me back. I bought them for you because I thought you deserve them. You've been studying, and training, really hard. I've never even seen your grandfather work that hard for something that he wanted. You have Goku's will, Rose. I'm glad to see it. Go get all your stuff on so I can see how it looks on you."

"Ok. Come with me to Bulma's on Friday. Tom is picking me up there and you could get some pictures then.

"Ok."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

It seemed like three days took a year to Rose, but the day of the Prom finally arrived. Rose and Videl were at Bulma's house, and Bulma was doing Rose's hair.

"There. While your hair is up in the curlers, you can go get ready. It'll make the second part of this easier if you're dressed. I love the color you chose. it goes so well with your hair. I can't wait to see your shoes." Bulma said.

"Well, all in due time. I'll be back." Rose said as she went to the spare bedroom to get dressed. As she got into her dress, Rose felt something big was going to happen. She didn't know what it was, but something was going to happen. When she got on her earrings and braclet, she went out to show Bulma. When she stepped into the living room, Bulma gasped. Rose was in a strapless, rose red ball gown with rose-tinted clear high heels.

"It looks even more beautiful on you. Let me see the shoes. Where did you find those? Are they real glass?"

"I like the dress, too. These shoes are custom made. No, their not glass. They are a very tough plastic so they don't break so easily, but they are very comfortable." Rose explained.

"Wow. How much were they?"

"Ninety-five zenny."

"Whoa! That cheaper than most of my shoes." Bulma said.

"Well, I'm a bargin hunter. I couldn't find any that I liked, so I had them made."

"You really did go all out."

"It was worth it."

"As long as you're happy."

"I am."

"Well, come back over here and sit down so I can finish your hair. It shoud be ready by now."

"Ok." Rose said as she sat in front of Bulma. As she worked, she talked about how she had went to her prom. Rose never realized that Bulma and Yamcha had dated. Thirty minutes later, Bulma was done. She handed Rose a mirror to look into.

Rose thought her hair looked great. It was partially pulled back with wisps laying here and there on her forehead.

"What do you think, grandma?"

"Rose, you look beautiful. Let me and Bulma get a couple of pictures."

"Ok. Where do you want me to stand?"

"How about outside the building?" Bulma suggested.

"Well, Tom's gonna be here in a little while, and I wanted to keep it a surprise until he gets inside. How about in front of the door? The will go good."

"Ok. Let's go." Bulma said. After Bulma amd Videl got their pictures, Rose sat down. After a few minutes, Videl asked,

"Rose, you suddenly look troubled. Is there something wrong?"

"I feel like something's going to happen." Rose said. Videl gave Bulma a quick look that seemed to say, does she know? Rose was still a little preoccupied, so she didn't notice it.

"Like what?" Bulma asked.

"I don't know. Just something."

"Oh." Videl said. "Don't worry. It's just nervous jitters. You haven't been there since you were expelled."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. I just need to relax." Just as Rose said that, the doorbell rang.

"Tom!" Rose cried, straightening up.

"I'll get it." Bulma said, getting up. After a few seconds, Rose heard,

"Is there a Bulma here?"

"That's me. You must be Tom. It's nice to meet you. Come on in."

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you, too." Tom said as he walked into the living room. Rose had stood up to straighten her dress. As soon as Tom saw her, he stopped walking. "Rose. You look beautiful. More than beautiful. More than words can describe." Tom said as he hugged her.

"Thanks. You look great." Rose said, the blush in her face fading. Tom gave Rose a crosage, a white rose.

"Since I didn't know what color your dress, I just got white."

"It's beautiful, Tom. Thank you." Rose said as he pinned it to her dress.

"Tom, let me and Bulma get a picture of you. Then we want one of you and Rose together." Videl said.

"Ok." Tom said, looking around. "Where do you want me to stand?"

"Just in front of the door."

"Ok." After all the pictures where taken, Rose said,

"Well, guess we oughta get going, before we miss the walk-in."

"Yeah. It was nice meeting you, Bulma."

"Yeah. You, too." Bulma walked up and acted like she was fixing Rose's crosage. As she did, she whispered, "He's a good catch, don't loose him."

"I don't plan on it." Rose whipsered back with a smile. "Just let me go grab my purse, and we can go." Rose just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to happen as Tom opned the car door for her.

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem for a beautiful woman like you."

"Tom, don't make me blush." Rose said.

At the high school, Rose got out of the car and then looked around at all the people standing around, waiting for the walk-in. As she looked around, a man caught her eye. He had short brown hair with blue eyes. He was tall and he seemed to be looking for someone. He wore a navy blue shirt with a faded pair of blue jeans.

His searching eyes were large. He looked to be in his mid-twenties. When he saw Rose, he smiled. His teeth were unusually straight and white. He also seemed very familiar to Rose, like she had seen him somewhere before. There was a look in his eyes saying, 'I found you'. He locked gazes with Rose for a moment and then turned to walk into the crowd.

"Rose? What are you looking at?"

"Huh? Nothing." Rose said, shaking her head, her suspsion rising. Tom took her hand and they walked through the crowd. They went into the building for the walk-in

As they entered, Julia saw them and walked toward them. She was wearing a strapless baby blue ball gown that dipped low in the front and the back came all the way down to her waist, with high heels to match. She had small matching wire tulips weaved into her hair. When she stopped in front of Rose, she said,

"Well, look who showed up. How does if feel to be expelled? I wouldn't know. I never tried to kill anyone."

"Oh? Didn't Tom tell you? I'm being home schooled. I never tried to kill you. Most people would have been better off without you, anyway."

"What? Home school? You?" Julia asked, seeming to ignore the bit about her unmissed death.

"Yes. What part of that don't you understand? Do you think that I'd be standing here right now if I wasn't?"

"Bet you don't get to walk next month." Julia said, ignoring Rose's question.

"Actually, I do. They granted me that privillage."

"I hope I don't have to walk with you." Julia said.

"My thoughts exactlly." Rose said as Mr. Sataogi walked up.

"Rose. It's great to see you again. You look great."

"Thank you, sir." Rose said, almost turning the color of her dress.

"Ok, people! Line up! You all look very nice." Mrs. Vanderbelt said as she walked up. rose was nervous. She still had the feeling that something was going to happen, and then seeing that man made the feelings peak. She looked up at Tom and smiled, who squeezed her hand. Julia and her date were standing in front of them.

"Isn't this great, Billy? I'm glad that you got to come to Prom with me." Julia turned and smiled. Billy turned to see what she was looking at. He had his shoulder-length blonde hair tied back. His deep blue eyes just couldn't seem to get enough of Rose's face.

"Billy, you know Tom. This is Rose, his new girlfriend." Julia said, hate in her voice.

"It's nice to meet you, Rose." Billy said in a deep voice.

"It's nice to meet you, too, Billy." Rose said. Just at that moment, the line moved, and Billy turned back around. Tom leaned over and whispered,

"Billy graduated last year. He was Julia's boyfriend before I was." After what seemed like forever, it was Rose and Tom's turn.

As they stepped out, Rose once again saw the man that looked at her strangely earlier. His eyes never left her. As they drew nearer to him, he headed toward the front of the crowd. As they came closer and closer to each other, the feeling Rose had been having became stronger and stronger. He was completely in the front of the crowd by the time they reached him.

"Hold on a second. I want to get a picture." A woman said. Rose and Tom stopped so the woman could get her picture. Just as the flash went off, the man stepped toward Rose. Rose saw something glisten and then looked down. By the time she did, the blade was laready in her stomach.

All she could do was lighty grasp at the handle as she made small sounds in her throat. She heard people scream and then the man said,

"Let this be a warning, desendant of Goku. I am out to kill all of your kind." He ran off, leaving Rose standing there, the knife still in her. She fell to the ground and waited for all of this to go away. She wanted to pass out, die, something so she could get away from the pain. Tom fell to his knees and put Rose's head in his lap. She looked up at him and he said,

"Rose, hang on. Someone is calling an ambulance. Don't leave me Rose, I love you." That was the last thing that Rose heard before the darkness took over her vision.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

"Rose, honey. Finally, you're awake. How do you feel?" Videl asked when Rose came to in a hospital bed.

"My stomach hurts."

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Do you remember anything else?" With that, all that had happened came flooding back. Rose sorted through all of it and then cried,

"Grandpa!"

"What's wrong?"

"I need to talk to grandpa, now!" Rose cried. His life depends on this!"

"Ok. I'll get him. Tom is outside, too. Would you like to see him? He's really worried about you."

"After I talk to grandpa. I'd like to talk to him alone about this."

"Ok. I understand I'll send him in." Videl said as she got up. When Videl got to the door, Rose said,

"Grandma?"

"Yes?" she said, turning around.

"I'm sorry I caused so much trouble for you and grandpa."

"It's fine. I would rather it be me that you, but it probably had to happen this way." Videl said. Rose cleared her throat and had to spit into a tissue. When she went to throw it away, she noticed it was stained red. Videl saw it and ran back to the bed.

"Don't throw that away." Videl said as she pushed the call light. "Nurse," Videl said as the pretty black-haired nurse came into the room, "Rose cleared her throat and then spit into a tissue. Right before she threw it away, we noticed that it was red. Is there still some bleeding?" Rose showed the nurse the tissue. "Does the doctor need to come in and look her over?"

"No. She'll be fine. The internal bleeding has been stopped, and what remains is still coming up. It may do that for the next couple of hours."

"Thank you. I was worried that something was wrong. This is a very weak shade of red. What if it becomes darker?" Videl asked.

"If it does, push the call light. I'm here for another three hours."

"Thank you."

"No problem." The nurse said as she left.

"Do you think you'll be ok?"

"Yes. That's the worst so far. Could you go get grandpa now?"

"Sure." About two or three mintues later, Gohan walked in.

"How are you, sweetheart?"

"I've been better."

"I bet you have. Videl said it was important. What's wrong?"

"When I was stabbed, the man told me something."

"What was it?"

"He said, "let this be a warning, decendant of Goku. I am out to kill all of your kind.' What did he mean? Did he mean the sayians? Does that include Vegeta?"

"I don't know. I wish I did, but I don't. Please, be careful from now on."

"I don't know what made him attack me. Grandpa, if he had been on the other side of the sidewalk, he would have stabbed Tom!"

"No. He was solely going to attack you. I think you were the only one he seen."

"Please, we have to find him before he goes after you or aunt Pan or uncle Goten! Or maybe even Vegeta!" By now, Rose had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Rose, don't cry. We won't let him hurt anyone. We'll find him, don't worry."

"I knew something was going to happen, but I didn't know what. Something about him was very familiar."

"As soon as we find him, we'll take him out. Maybe this is what Piccolo and Dende were traning for." Gohan pondered out loud.

"Maybe. We won't bother Tom about this, not yet. I don't want him to start skipping school. If it gets really serious, then I will be the one to tell him, ok?"

"Ok. Did you want to talk to Tom, too?"

"Yes. He'll probably want to know that I'm going to be ok."

"I bet he does. I'll send him in."

"Ok." A couple of minutes later, Tom rushed into the room. He was still in his tux.

"Rose. I'm so glad that you're still alive. I heard about the blood in the tissue, but I think you'll be ok."

"I do, too. My kind was made to take a lot of damage. I heard what you said at the school. I smiled. At least I think I did. If I didn't on the outside, I did on the inside."

"You did?"

"Yes. I know it wasn't the first time, but I could tell you meant it when you said that you loved me, Tom. That was the last thing I heard."

"There was something I was going to ask you tonight, Rose."

"And what was that, Tom?" Rose asked. Tom took soemthing out of his pocket and got down on one knee. He looked up at Rose, who had tears in her eyes. He opened the case and asked,

"Rose, would you become my wife?" Rose didn't know what to say. Then she thought, would grandma and grandpa agree?

"Did you talk to grandma and grandpa about this?"

"I asked them a month ago." Rose recalled the time that Tom had stayed over for dinner and then asked to talk to her grandparents alone. She thought to herself, Will it work? She looked down into Tom's eyes, and then realized that she wanted to be completely sure. "Do you need some time to think about it?"

"I'm not sure. What if it doesn't work out?"

"We'll try our best, Rose. I liked you from the first time that I saw you. When Julia showed me the note that you and her passed that first day you were at school, I started to think that she wasn't the one for me. As soon as people saw me with you, my popularity went down, but I didn't care. I was suspeneded for a week after you left because of a fight over you."

"Tom, why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want you to think that I didn't care about school."

"Tom, I could never think that about you. It does make me feel good that you stuck up for me." Maybe we can make it, Rose thought. "Tom, I will marry you." Rose said. Tom's eyes lit up and he jumped up and ran out of the room. That was unexpected, Rose thought as she heard Tom scream,

"She said yes!"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20

Later that week, Rose came home. When she arrived, she was never so glad to see her room. She got settled into her bed with a book to read. The doctor said that she would need another week to recuperate completely. It was only one o' clock, so she had a good two hours of reading.

Rose got so absorbed into her book, she never heard the doorbell ring. When Gohan knocked on her door, she jumped.

"Come in." Rose said, her heart still pounding.

"Did I scare you? I'm sorry. You have some visiters. Are you up to seeing anyone?"

"Yes. You can send them in."

"Ok, you can come in now." Gohan said, turning to the people outside. He moved out of the way so the people could come in. Rose smiled when she saw Tom enter the room, but it disapeared when she saw Julia follow him. What's she doing here, Rose thought to herself. Rose forced herself to smile, just to be polite.

"Rose, I know that you and Julia never got along before, but she wanted to come see you. She's been very worried." Tom explained, seeing the look on Rose's face.

"We may not see eye to eye, but I would never want you to die." Julia said. Julia looked down at Rose's hand, the one with Tom's ring on it. "That's a beautiful ring, Rose. Where did you get it?"

"Tom, haven't you told anyone?"

"No."

"Told anyone what?" Julia asked, looking confused.

"Tom proposed to me, Julia. Soon after I woke up in the hospital. You should have seen him when I finally said yes. He ran down the hall screaming 'she said yes!' I had to think about if it was the right time or not, but I said yes." Julia looked dumbfounded. She looked up at Tom and said,

"I had always thought that you would propose to me. I guess it wasn't in our cards, though. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you. In a way, I was kind of hoping that you would come back to me."

"Julia, haven't I explained to you that my deep feelings for Rose will never shallow themselves? Never think that I didn't love you. The first time we were together, yes, I did love you. The second time-"

"Was to get me to shut up. Rose told me that the first time we fought, but I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe that she was something that you just happened to take a second look at, get tired of, and then come back to me."

"Julia, you can find someone else so easily. I never meant for Tom to fall in love with me, and I never meant to fall in love with him. I must admit that I think that you're a lot prettier than I am, which should be a plus for you." Rose said.

"You better believe it. No, I'm joking. You're really pretty, too, Rose. I can get along with you as long as you can get along with me." Julia said.

"Ok. I think that can be arranged."

"Good. I better get to be in the wedding."

"Not so fast. I'll think about an invitaion. We'll see what happens between now and then."

"Good enough for me. I have a question. Why did that man attack you, Rose? And who in the world is Goku?"

"I don't know why he attacked me. Goku is my great-grandfather."

"Wow. That's weird. Do you think he knows him or something?"

"I don't know." Rose said as Julia looked at her watch.

"I really gotta go. Sorry I can't stay longer. I promised the girls that I'd meet them at the mall."

"Did you drive?"

"Yeah. I was right behind Tom the whole way out here. You live quite a ways out."

"That's one reason I was home schooled."

"I see. Well, better get going. Bye, guys." Julia said, heading out the door.

"I got a feeling that was all an act." Rose said when she heard Julia's car leave.

"I don't think so. She insisted that I bring her out here today. Every day, Juila would ask if you were getting any better and when you were getting out of the hospital."

"Well, all I can say is that I'm going to wait and see what happens."

"Well, how are you feeling?" Tom said, changing the subject.

"A lot better than a week ago."

"Good. We should start planning the wedding."

"Let's see. How about a small wedding? I know a place where we can have it. It's a small island, and all the people I woud invite know where it is. After I'm well again, I'll take you to meet the owner of the island."

"We'll see. That sounds pretty good, though. How will we get to the island?"

"We'll fly."

"Alright. That's something I've been needing to work on anyway."

"Good. Talk to your mom about it, and then we'll go next week."

"Ok. I better get going. Mom's been wanting to take me out to dinner for the last time as her 'little boy' since she found out you said yes." Tom said with a laugh. Rose laughed, too.

"Alright. I'll see you later." Rose said as he leaned down to kiss her. Rose stayed in bed and recaped all that had happened for about fifteen mintues and then went downstairs to see what was for dinner. She entered the kitchen and said,

"Smells good."

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"Hungry."

"Did you get your homework done?"

"No."

"Why don't you go work on it? It will give you something to do. Dinner won't be for a while."

"Ok." Rose said, turning to go upstairs. After about an hour, Gohan came up to her room.

"Rose, you have some visiters downstairs."

"Ok." Rose answered, putting her pencil down. When she got downstairs, Krillin and 18 were sitting in the living room.

"Hi." Rose said as she sat down.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Krillin asked.

"Better. Grandma and grandpa won't let me train because the doctor said that I need to rest up for a week. But I don't think we have that much time."

"Well, if we don't, we need to have you as well as possible." Gohan explained.

"Do you think you could explain him to us, Rose?" 18 asked. Rose explained the man that attacked her as best she could.

"There was something very familiar to me about him. I wish that I knew where from. When I saw him, I felt as if I had seen him before."

"That's strange. Maybe from your childhood?" 18 suggested.

"Maybe. But how would he have known my bloodline?"

"Well, all we can do is wait and see what happens."

"18, no offense, but you were evil once. What exactlly was your mission?"

"To join with Cell and destory Goku."

"Why are all those out the threaten the earth after grandpa Goku?"

"Well, he isn't human, and he had lots of enimies as a child. Not on purpose, mind you." Krillin said.

"Maybe we should tell him, grandpa. Maybe he can help. We need to find him."

"I wouldn't know where to start, Rose."

"Maybe we can talk to Piccolo." Rose suggested.

"Maybe we should. Goku would be a big help, Gohan." Krillin said.

"Yeah, we should. I wish he'd come back. Where exactlly did he go?" Rose asked.

"He went back to Uub's village. I don't know where it is, though."

"Do you think Dende would know?" Krillin asked.

"Maybe. You guys can come, too. You got the time?"

"Yes. Let's go, Krillin." 18 said, standing.

"Ok." Krillin said as he walked to the door.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 21

"Dende! We need to talk to you!" Rose cried as she landed on the lookout. Dende ran out and said,

"What's wrong?"

"We need to find grandpa Goku. Do you happen to know how to find him?"

"Yes, I can. I can take you there, if you want to."

"Really? Ok! Let's go!" Rose cried.

"Wait. I need to tell Mr. Popo where I'm going. I'll be right back."

"I can't wait to see dad again." Gohan said, his eyes lit up with happiness.

"Neither can I." Krillin responded. A few minutes later, Dende came out.

"Is everyone ready?"

"Yes." Rose said, excited about seeing her great-grandfather again.

"Ok. Let's go."

It took a while, but they finally got there. Rose felt a slight pain in her stomach, but didn't say anything about it. The villiage was very small. As they walked in, people looked at them. Dende walked up to a woman. She looked a little scared, but didn't shrink away.

"Would you happen to know a boy that lives here and goes by the name of Uub?"

"Yes."

"Do you know where he might be?"

"Um, I think he's at home."

"Would you mind taking us there?"

"I'll show you." The woman said as she turned to lead the way. She's pregnant, Rose thought when she noticed the woman's swollen stomach. After about five minutes of walking into the villiage, the woman stopped at a house.

"This is it. I hope you can find him." she said as she walked away. Gohan knocked on the door and waited. A few mintues later, a man opened the door.

"May I help you?" He asked in a gruff voice.

"Would Uub be home?"

"One moment. Uub! You have visitors!" A moment later, Uub came to the door.

"Yes?" he asked in a timid voice. He was of about avrage height with tanned skin and large eyes. His hair was jet-black and style in a mohawk.

"Hi, Uub. Would my father still in the village?" Gohan asked.

"No. He left about an hour ago."

"Did he say where he was going?"

"He said he was ready to go home, so he did."

"Thanks."

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that we can't take care of." Gohan said.

"Ok. If you need me, come after me, ok?"

"Sure. Thanks, Uub."

"No problem." Someone in the house called for him. "That's my mom. I better go. Bye, guys."

"Bye. Thanks again, Uub." Gohan said as he went back into the house. As they left the viliage, the pain in Rose's stomach was a little more sharp, but not by much.

About an hour later, they were back at the lookout. Rose's stomach was still hurting a little, but she didn't think it was anything serious. Maybe I'm just excited to see grandpa Goku again, Rose thought.

"Thanks, Dende. Sorry the trip was for nothing." Gohan said.

"No problem. It was nice to talk to Uub again. I needed a change of secenary, anyway."

"Well, I guess we better get home. Are you two coming back with us?" Gohan asked Krillin and 18.

"Naw. Marion's probably wondering where we are. Let's go, 18. They can visit first."

"Ok."

"Bye, guys." Gohan said. All Rose could do was smile.

"Bye." Krillin said as he and 18 flew off.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yes." Rose forced herself to say through the pain of her stomach cramping.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 22

"It's about time you guys got home!" Goku said as Gohan and Rose landed in the yard.

"I'm glad to see you again, dad." Gohan said as he walked up and hugged his father.

"I'm glad to see you, too. Hi, Rose."

"Hi, grandpa Goku." Rose said. Her stomach had quit cramping, and she felt better. She went up and gave her great-grandfather a hug. After the hug, they all walked over to his house, which was right next door tho their own.

"Chi chi! I'm home!" Goku called as they all walked in.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME!" Chi chi bellowed as she stormed into the living room. "It's been alomst a year, Goku! If it wasn't for our children and grandchildren, I wouldn't have anyone! You better not go anywhere for the next five years, Goku!"

"It's nice to see you, too. Five whole years? How about two?"

"Goku!" Chi chi cried. Suddenly, the anger left her face and was replaced by a smile. "You know I can't stay mad at you." she said and hugged him.

"We have a lot to catch up on, Gohan. Let's go back over to your house."

"Ok." After they had gotten into the house, Videl came into the living room.

"Hi, Goku!" It's nice to see you again!"

"It's nice to see you, too. Something smells good."

"Well, I can call Chi chi and you guys can have dinner with us."

"Ok. Thanks."

"No problem. With the way things look, I'll get back to my cooking so you can get down to business."

"Ok. Gohan, I felt a great power power about a month ago. Strange thing is, it felt like Piccolo. I was going to come home then, but I was in the middle of something important. Tell me, what's happened since I left?"

"I think Rose can explain everything better than I can. Rose?" As rose explained what happened in school, and even after she was expelled, Goku listened intently. After she was done, Goku sat back and contemplated what he had been told. After a few minutes, the doorbell rang. Videl came out of the kitchen and said,

"Thats Chi chi. I'll get it." When she let Chi chi in, they came through the living room. Chi chi looked at Goku and could tell that he had been told everything.

"How about I help you with dinenr, Videl?"

"Sure. Com on." After they left, Rose said,

"Is grandma Chi chi always like that? She had such a strange look on her face."

"Only when she knows I'm going to fight. She worries that I'm going to be killed again."

"Again?"

"Gohan, didn't you tell her about the Dragon Balls?"

"No. Never found a reason to."

"Huh? I'm confused."

"The Dragon Balls are a set of seven orange balls with red stars on them, ranging from one to seven. When put together, they can be used to call upon the Eternal Dragon. He grants us two wishes. After that, the balls are scattered across the earth to be found again when the time comes." Goku explained.

"What does that have to do with dying?"

"I've been wished back with them. If this man, if that's what he is, kills anyone, we can with the earth back to the way it was before?"

"Really?"

"Yes." Goku said as Chi chi walked into the room.

"It's time for supper. If what's happening is this serious, then you need your strength.

At the table, Goku was telling of his visit to Uub's village.

"I was helping people train. They are very dedecated to their familes and want to protect them."

"The woman that showed us to Uub's house was pregnant. I can't wait to have children."

"You shouldn't be worrying about children, yet, Rose. You haven't even graduated yet." Chi chi said.

"Grandma Videl. Didn't you tell grandma Chi chi the good news?" Rose asked, turning her attention to Videl.

"I thought maybe you would want to tell her."

"What? Tell me what?" Chi chi asked.

"Tom asked me to marry him, grandma." Rose said, smiling.

"What! Engaged! That's wonderful, Rose! Have you started on any plans?" Chi chi fired. The phone rang and Rose said,

"I'll get it." She got up and went ti the door. She opened the door, and there stood the man that attacked her. Rose drew in a breath to scream, but he drew out a knife and shook his head in warning. He pulled her outside and closed the door.

"Is Goku here?" The man said in his husky voice. Rose shook her head, wanting to protect her grandfather.

"You better not be lying to me." He threatened, holding the knife up to her stomach.

"Please, not again." Rose whispered weakly, crying. She looked up at him and saw him smile, as if he took pleasure in the memories she was recalling from Prom. He poked Rose just enough with the knife to send a trickle of blood down her stomach. All Rose could do was whimper because she was so frightened.

"Tell me what your name is." Rose whispered through her tears, trying to be brave.

"You want to know my name?" He said as he lifted her arm. "I'll leave you my name." He commented, lifting the knife to her arm. Rose's eyes grew wide, knowing what he was going to do. "You even try letting out a scream, I swear I'll kill you right here and now. And then I'll go in and kill everyone in this house."

Rose tried to ignore the pain, but it was almost too much. All she could do was sob. She wasn't going to risk her family's lives just to get him to stop.

"You show that to Goku. He'll know exactlly who I am." The man said as he flew off.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 23

Rose walked back into the kitchen still crying. Gohan was the first to see her.

"Rose!" He cried, jumping up from his seat. Rose had her arm against her stomach, not really wanting him to see it. "Rose, what's wrong? What happened to your arm? Let me see." Gohan said, taking her arm and turning it over. He gasped at what he saw.

Gohan's voice drained of color as he said,

"Rose, who done this to you?"

"He did." Rose said through her tears.

"Who's 'he' Rose?"

"The man that attacked me." Rose said as she ragained her composure.

"Rose, why didn't you yell, scream, so something?"

"He threatened to kill me if I did. He said if he killed me, he'd come in the house and kill all of you, too. He said to show this to grandpa Goku and he'd know who he was." At this, Goku got up and walked over to Rose to look at her arm.

GERO

"It was one of Dr. Gero's androids. Gohan, Rose, we need to go see 18."

When they got to Master Roshi's island, Goku banged on the door. Krillin came to the door a couple of minutes later.

"Hey, Goku. It's nice to see you again." Krillin said with a smile. After he looked at Goku for a few seconds, the smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"Rose was attacked again." Gohan said.

"Rose, are you ok?" All Rose could do was shake her head.

"Come on in, guys." Krillin said, moving so they could come in.

"Who is it, Krillin?" 18 asked, coming into the living room. "Goku. What's wrong?"

"Rose was attacked again, 18. This time the guy left a name."

"Really? Who is it?"

"Rose, show her." Goku said, Before they had left, Chi chi and Videl cleaned her arm. Rose walked over to 18 and showed her her arm.

"Gero. It must have been another android. I can't believe whoever this was done this."

"I never should have asked for his name." Rose whispered, her head down.

"Why didn't you scream?" Krillin asked as they sat down.

"He threatened to kill me and my family both if I did. I'd rather be carved than get my family killed." Rose explained.

"Rose, you underestimate your family."

"I'm not taking any chances."

"We need to find this android, 18. Did you know anything about any other androids?" Goku asked.

"No. I just hope we can find him soon. He needs to be stopped."

Rose couldn't say anything. She just couldn't believe she let him attack her again. What if it happens again?

"Grandpa Goku, what if he goes after grandma Chi chi or grandma Videl next?"

"We won't let him. Rose, don't you worry about them. He won't get close enough to touch a hair on their heads." Goku said, an almost dark look on his face.

"I need to talk about something else before I have a breakdown." Rose said, shaking her head. I can't let myself get pulled under into depression, Rose thought to herself.

"Ok. What should we talk about, then?" 18 asked.

"Well, I'm engaged to be married and-"

"what? You're engaged? That's great!"

"Yes, I can't wait. I suggested to Tom that we get married here. I told him he could come out and meet all of you and check this place out and see if he wants the wedding here. Is that ok with you?"

"Of course it is, Rose. Why wouldn't it be? I think this is the perfect place for a wedding." Master Roshi said as he walked in. "Is that what you came over here for?"

"No."

"Oh?" Goku explained what had happened. After he was done, Master Roshi looked at Rose's arm. "Those are pretty deep, Rose."

"I know. I hope they don't leave wide scars."

"I don't think they will." 18 said. Rose forced a smile. Rose's vision went in and out and she blinked a few times. She saw 18 look at her as if she saw something wrong and then Rose blacked out.

Rose was standing in front of the house when she saw Tom's car pull up. The was shut off and the door opened. Tom stepped out and shut the door. He walked up and hugged her.

"Tom, the most terrible thing has happened. He attacked me again." Rose said when he pulled away.

"I know. I just heard. That's why I came out here. Let's go inside."

"Ok." Rose said. After they came into the house, the ran into Gohan.

"Hey, Tom. How are you today?"

"Very good. And you?"

"Good, good. Well, I better get back to my office. I need to get some tests together."

"Ok." Rose said as she and Tom walked into the kitchen. When they got there, they saw Chi chi and Videl sitting at the table on swivel chairs, their backs to them. Rose smiled and walked over the chairs to talk to them. When she turned the chairs around, both women were dead. Carved into their foreheads were a word that was dried with blood. On Videl's head was YOU'RE and Chi chi's was marked with NEXT. Rose turned around to look at Tom, but came face to face with the man that had attacked her.

"Why? What did they do?" Rose cried.

"I told you all of your kind."

"But I thought you were talking about on my grandfather's side!" The man laughed and said,

"Androids are the ultimate beings and shall rule the earth. Now it's your turn up like them, like you all belong, dead."

"No!"

"No!" Rose cried, sitting up in bed.

"Rose! It's ok. You were having a nightmare. Calm down." Chi chi said as she tried to calm Rose down, who was crying and shaking uncontrolably.

"Grandma! You're forehead! You're not dead!" Rose cried as she touched Chi chi's forehead where the words had been carved.

"Of course not, Rose. Why are you touching my forehead?"

"That nightmare was terrible. I dreamed that that android had killed you and grandma Videl and had carved 'you're' on grandma Videl's forehead and 'next' on yours."

"It's ok. It wasn't real."

"But he told me something that may be true."

"What was it?"

"He said that all androids were going to rule the earth."

"Chi chi!" Goku called up the stiars.

"What, Goku?" Chi chi asked as Goku came into the room.

"Someone attacked West City! Rose, do you think that you can make it downstairs?"

"Yes."

"Rose, you were poisoned. It's not a good idea to move around to much."

"I'll just lay on one of the couches."

"Ok. Let's get down there."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 24

rose couldn't believe what she was seeing. There, on the television, was the man that she knew as Gero, using energy to destroy buildings. The reporter looked very nervous.

"I'm in West City, which is under attack. So far, there have been very few buildings attacked." Gohan was on the phone with Krillin.

"Krillin, are you watching the seven o' clock news? I don't know, just a second. Rose, was that the android that attacked you?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. I know. He seems strong, too."

All of a sudden, he was right behind the reporter.

"Give me that microphone." Rose heard faintly. "Goku, if you're watching, I'm going to find you. I'm going to do what none of the other androids that Doctor Gero created could do. I'm going to destory you and make sure you never come back." The android said as he killed the cameraman with a blast of energy. Just as the television went to snow, the doorbell rang. Goku got up to answer it.

"May I help you?"

"Is Rose home?"

"Yes. Come in." Goku said, moving out of the way.

"Rose! Someone is attacking the city!" Tom cried as he walked in.

"I know. It's the man that attacked me at Prom."

"Oh, no! Rose, he destoryed my house. Me and mom got out in time. She's in the car."

"Bring her in here." Chi chi said.

"Ok. I'll be right back."

"Krillin, I'm going to have to call you back." gohan said, hanging up the phone.

"We have to go, grandpa Gohan." Rose said, getting up off the couch.

"Yeah. Tom's coming, too. We're going to need his help."

"Mom, you'll be safer here." Tom said as he walked her inside. She was extremely upset.

"It'll be ok. You can stay here until you find a new place to live." Videl said, walking over to her.

"Thank you, but I couldn't take up and space."

"Oh? We're going to be in-laws soon, anyway."

"You're Rose's mother?"

"No, I'm her grandmother."

"Oh. I remember Tom telling me her mother died ten years ago."

"Why don't we go have a cup of tea?" Chi chi asked, showing both the women to the kitchen.

"I don't think Tom ever told me your name." Videl said.

"Mary." Tom's mother said as they went through the kitchen door.

"Tom, we have to go back into the city." Rose said.

"Are you crazy?"

"No. He'll kill anyone and destroy anything to get to granpa Goku." Rose said, nodding in his direction.

"But-"

"Didn't I explain that this is what we do? This is what we've been training for, Tom."

"This is why you trained me?"

"Yes. I knew you would be a big help. We need to get back to town. Let's go." Rose said, standing back up. She had sat down when Tom came in. She wobbled, but Goku was there in an instant to steady her.

"Are you sure you should do this?" Goku asked.

"Yes. I just got up to fast, that's all. I'll be fine."

"Ok. I'll go tell Chi chi that we're heading out."

"Don't tell the real reason. Mom will worry. She's not in the right state of mind to worry about me right now." Tom said.

"Ok." A few minutes later, they were all flying toward West City.

"So, you've done something like this before, Rose?"

"Yes. Only, it was just me fighting. My mom was lying on the floor, dead, not even ten fet away. I just hope that I have enough strength to do this. He cut me, Tom. Look." Rose said, showing him her arm. "The blade was laced with a poison of some sort."

"Well, he's not my favorite person. I'm mad enough to kill him myself."

"Don't underestimate him, Tom. He's not human. He's an android."

"A robot?"

"A very intelligent robot. He has the skills of a human. There's the city." Rose said, looking up.

"Let's go!" Goku called back to Rose and Tom, speeding up.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 25

When they landed, the city looked horrible. City Hall had been destoryed, so as the doctor's offices next door.

"I'm glad this happened at night." Rose commented as they walked.

"Yeah. Come on, we need to find that android." Gohan said. They walked around for a little while, not finding anything. All of a sudden, there was a blast of air from behind them. They all turned around to see the android.

"It's about time I found you, Goku. You also brought your family to me. This is going to be much easier to dispose you you than I thought. And who might this be?" The android said, looking at Tom. "I don't have anything on him."

"You leave Tom out of this!" Rose cried, walking in front of him.

"You think you scare me? I've attacked you more than once. I'd have to say that you're a little scared of me, little girl. I hope that you odn't think that you can take me out."

"Not by myself. Before we start, I want to know your real name."

"I go by Elite. I am the ultimate android. I have no equal. There's no way you're going to destory me!"

"No, Rose. It's me he's after. He's going to have to fight me first. We're going where you can't hurt anymore innocent people. They have done nothing to you. Come on." Goku said as he flew off. Elite followed close behind. Rose and the others took to the air.

After about twenty minutes, Elight caught up with Goku and said,

"This is far enough. there's no one around for miles."

"Ok." Goku said, suddenly desending. Everyone else landed and backed off.

"Why are we backing off?" Tom asked.

"It just seems like the right thing to do." Rose said, her eyes never leaving her great-grandfather.

"Goku, are you ready to meet your ultimate death?"

"If you have the power to give it to me."

"I'll make you regret those words, Goku."

"Let's go." Goku said, getting into his normal fighting stance. Elite sone the same. Before anyone could count to three, they were heading toward each other. It amazed Rose how nimble her great-grandfather was, considering his age.

It seemed forever before either landed a punch. Unfortunately, it was Elite. Goku was surprised and it took him off guard. Elite saw his chance, and took it. He used his elbow to hit Goku in the face and then kneed him in the stomach. Goku coughed, the breath knocked out of him.

Elite suddenly plummitted Goku with a flurry of punches and kicks. Goku tried to gain some ground against Elite, but couldn't. The more Goku tried to gain ground, the more Elite took from him.

Finally, Goku fell to the ground. Just as he hit, Gohan went for it. Rose couldn't believe her grandfather's speed. She almost couldn't tell where they were. She looked over at Tom, who was having trouble keeping up.

"Where are they?" Tom asked, still looking for them.

"Just keep looking. You'll get use to it." By this time, Goku had gotten up and walked over to them.

"You're still alive?" Tom asked.

"Like I said, grandpa Goku's kind was made to take a lot of damage. Grandpa, is your think his tactic to keep him weakened? Do you think you should go another time?"

"Whenever Gohan can't take anymore, I'll go again."

"This is what you do? You destory things like this?"

"Yes. I've had people and creatures after me ever since I was a child. It doesn't surprise me that he was looking for me." Goku explained as he watched his son.

"Granpa, do you think that they'll ever stop coming?"

"I don't know. There have been some things that came to just destroy the earth." At that moment, Rose felt a dramatic decrease in her grandfather's power level. She looked up just as he started to fall. Just as Elite looked down at them, Goku went back up. It took a few minutes, but Rose realized she couldn't feel Gohan's power level anymore.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 26

Rose ran toward her grandfather. Tom was close behind. By the time she reached Gohan, she could tell he was near dead. Rose didn't just see red, she saw scarlet. Tom could tell she was mad, which made him mad. Goku had appearently felt the energy spike in Rose, because he smiled as he fought.

Goku kept fighting, and kept fighting. It seemed like forever, but was only a short amount of time before Elite landed a punch landed a punch this time. As soon as he did, he got the upper hand. After only a few mintues, Goku fell to the ground.

"I don't have enough power to go on. One of you take over." He explained when Tom and Rose got to him. Rose was about to lift off to fight, but Tom stopped her.

"Let me do it. You're stronger than I am. If you go first, and dont destory him, I don't know if I could or not. So, if I go first, I could further weaken him for you. Then you'll have a better chance of destorying him."

"But, Tom-"

"Believe me. I think that this is the best way."

"If you think you can't take anymore, let yourself fall."

"Ok." Tom said. Rose watched him float up to Elite. She couldn't believe she was letting him do this. She knelt beside Goku and watched Tom. At first, he didn't seem to be doing to well. To Rose's surprise, he was able to take every hit that was thrown at him.

"Don't think you can destory me, boy. No one and nothing can destory me. Never forget that I am the Elite android."

"Even if I can't, I sure can try!" Tom cried as he hit Elite in the face. Just as this happened, Rose felt more power coming. Elite stopped fighting as he felt the power. Tom took it as an oppetunity and then hit him in nose. It took him off guard and Tom kept him.

Rose looked in the direction that the power was coming from. It was Piccolo. He landed beside Rose and watched. Tom had the upper hand for a while, but then Elite hit him and he let his guard down. Elite unleashed a shower of punches upon Tom and Tom fell to the ground.

"TOM!" Rose screamed. She looked up at Elite.

"Oops. Was he important?"

"Elite, you are going to die!"

"Come on, little girl. I know I can take you." Elite taunted as Rose flew toward him with all her might.

"You almost killed my grandfather, my great-grandfather is in serious condition, and you've hurt my fiancee. You will defenitly die, Elite. YOU WILL DIE!" Rose bellowed, rushing toward the person she was bent upon killing, not even realizing she had began to cry.

"Like I said, little girl, you can't kill me. I guess you want to find out the hard way." Elite said as he pulled out of the way of a stray punch. He hit Rose in the stomach, which knocked the breath out of her. She forced herself to recover quickly, then rushed toward him. She hit Elite with her shoulder, hard. He was surprised for a moment, enough time for Rose to hit him in the face.

Rose repeatedly hit him as she gained more and more ground against him. She was hitting him for what happened at Prom, she was hitting him for carving her arm up like a Christmas ham. She was even hitting him for all the innocent people he had hurt. She finally realized that she was crying, which made her cry even harder. She couldn't see well anymore, and Elite took it as an oppertunity.

Elite hit in the face and just continued to hit her, gaining all the ground he had lost and more. Rose tried to block his blows, but couldn't keep up. Eventually, a punch landed square on her face, making her black out and fall to the ground.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 27

Rose came to no telling how much later, her back hurting from the fall. Above her and to the right, Elite was fighting Piccolo. She looked on the ground to her right and saw Tom. Rose crawled, even though it hurt to even think about moving, over to him and stayed by his side. She put his head in her lap and then brushed his light brown hair off his face and kissed his forehead.

"I promise to kill this thing, Tom. I'll do it for you, for grandpa Gohan and Goku. I'll even do it for Piccolo." Rose vowed.

"Rose." At first, she thought it was Tom. She looked down at him, but he was still unconsious.

"Rose." She heard it again. This time, it came from behind her. She turned to see Goku moving. She looked down at Tom once more, softly put his head on the ground, and then crawled over to her great-grandfather.

"What is it, grandpa?" Rose said, looking lovingly at him, wishing that she could take the pain that was written on his face.

"You can't beat him fighting like that. You have to trick him. Catch him off his guard. When you can do that, you can beat him. I know you can."

"Ok, grandpa. I promise to do my best."

"That's all you can do. Piccolo can't last that much longer, Rose. You have to be the one to do it."

"I will. How long as Piccolo been fighting?"

"How long? Probably about two hours. I can feel him weakening. He's barely got any power left." Goku said as he sat up, holding his right arm.

"Oh, no! You're hurt!"

"It could be worse."

"What's hurt?"

"My shoulder's broken. I was hoping that I wouldn't have to go to the hospital."

"If there's still a hospital left to go to." Rose muttered. At that moment, Piccolo fell to the ground.

"You. Come up here." Elite said, pointing to Rose.

"So, I can kill you now? Gladly." Rose said, shakily getting to her feet.

"You? Kill me? You can hardly stand."

"I won't be standing when I kill you. You'll be dead before you hit the ground, you hunk of junk. Then you'll be where you need to be, in the dump."

"Oh, someone's a little fiesty today. Never think that you can defeat me, little girl." Elite said as Rose reached him. The first thing Elite did was grab her by the throat. It surprised Rose, but she didn't show it.

Elite continued to strangle Rose with one hand and repeatedly punched her in the face. To Elite's surprise, she just stayed there and took it. This made him smile. His smile grew wider as he watched her eyes and lip swell and turn purple.

That's it, Rose thought to herself, letting Elite plummit her with his punches. Keep it up. I can feel my power building. Just a little more. Atfter a little while, Rose thought that she was going to pass out.

"Don't tell me that you give up so quickly." Elite asked, smiling.

"No, I just like the pain." Rose said, smiling as best she could through lips that were at least twice their normal size.

"Really? In that case, I'll do this." Elite said as he let her go. They were closer to the ground than Rose expected because she fell to the ground, hearing and feeling her ankel crack, her almost swollen shut eyes flying open from the pain. When she looked up, she saw Elite smiling.

After a few seconds, Elite began to laugh. As he laughed, he was flying down toward her, quickly. Rose couldn't believe his speed. Just as he was right above her, he produced an energy ball and shot it. Rose dodged it, but barely. Rose saw red as Elite walked over to Tom.

"Why do you care for him so much? He's just a human. You want someone that can live a lot longer than him, like me. You know, I've grown quite fond of you since I've started watching you."

"How long have you been watching me?" Rose asked, now sitting up.

"About ten years."

"Why?"

"I was wanting to make sure that you were related to Goku." Elite said as he walked toward Rose. He stopped right in front of her, standing at her feet.

"Do I not look enough like him?"

"No, not to me."

"Then you must be blind." Elite raised his booted foot above Rose's broken ankle, and Rose's eyes grew large. Elite brought his foot down hard and Rose screamed loud enough for the birds to fly from their nests in fright.

"Oops. Did that hurt?" Elite asked with a smile and a chuckle. Rose had tears streaming down her face from the pain. Next, Elite took a step up and smashed her knee. Rose thought it felt as if her knee broke in three different places.

He's torturing me, Rose thought to herself through her tears and her pain. He's killing me slowly. But, Rose thought, it just dawning on her, he's never even tried to hurt grandpa Goku.

"You never wanted to hurt grandpa Goku. It was me you've wanted this whole time." Rose said through her pain, her teeth gritted together so she wouldn't scream.

"Bravo, Rose. Bravo. You really are smart. And you know what? My name isn't really Elite. It's James. I believe you knew my brother. I also believe you killed him. I know about your kind, Rose. He told me."

John? John had a brother? He told him about my family? Why didn't he ever tell me? Was I not good enough for him to tell?

"You knew? What all did he tell you?" Rose asked, her anger rising.

"That you are all monsters and all deserve to die."

"But, but, you can fly. How did you learn to do that?"

"Like I said, I've been watching you for ten years. Ever since you killed my brother, I've been trying ot find the perfect time to come after you. And why do it so soon? Why not do it when you wouldn't really rexognize me all that well?"

Now's my chance, Rose thought as she grabbed his ankles and pulled. He fell hard and Rose used her good leg and her flying ablities to stand. Before James could react, Rose was in the air.

"What's wrong, James? Did you trip?" Rose asked, looking down at him.

"Why you little-"

"Don't you want to kill me? What happened to that?"

"You monster!"

"This look like a monster to you!" Rose yelled as she shot an energy ball right beside his left foot. James looked dumbfounded.

"You are a monster! I knew you were! That's why I never came around. I knew there was something like this wrong with you! I'll kill you and send you where your good for nothing mother went." James sceamed as he jumped up and flew into the air. Rose couldn't hold it back any longer. She turned super and then went after James.

James couldn't believe his eyes. All of a sudden, Rose's jet-black hair turned a golden yellow color and the same color came up around her.

"A trick like that isn't going to scare me!" James cried as he came after her. Rose smiled.

"Pitiful human." Rose said. She shot energy from her hand that that grazed his shoulder. He didn't seem to feel the pain, he just kept coming after her.

"Never underestimate how much pain I can take." James said as he hit Rose in the face. It caught her off guard, which gave him enough time to pull out a knife. When he pulled it out of it's sheath, he riped open a pocket of poison that sat in it for the purpose of poisoning the blade. Rose saw the blade and stopped.

"Don't think that I'm going to get close enough to let you stick me with that." Rose said, nodding toward the blade in James's hand. "Tell me. How did you know Dr. Gero?"

"I use to work for him."

"Good enough. Just thought I'd as before I killed you."

"You're not in any shape to kill me, Rose."

"I guess we'll just find that out, won't we?"


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 28

"Come on, Rose. Get a little closer. I dare you." James taunted.

"If you're that worried about stabbing me with that, come over here and do it, then."

"Gladly." James said as he flew toward her. Rose started to fly toward him, too. That surprised him. "That's it, Rose. Fly to your death!"

Rose knew that wasn't happening any time soon. She brought her fist out to hit him as she went by him, and he brought out his knife to cut her. As they passed each other, Rose felt the warm trickle of blood run down her arm. She looked down and saw a huge gash in her right bicep.

"Rose, you know that blade was poisoned. That was enough poison to kill a grown horse in about five hours. I'd say that you have a good hour to live, if you don't get medical attention. Now, what are you going to do?"

"This!" Rose cried as she flew toward toward him. She stopped right in front of him and said,

"Goodbye, James. It was nice meeting the step-uncle I never had." She shot an energy blast in his stomach.

"Why? Why wait? Why give me a long and painful death?"

"I'd rather watch you suffer. No, wait. I'd rather watch you die." Rose said as James fell to the ground. By this time, Goku had gotten enough energy to stand

"Don't touch him, grandpa. I want to watch him die. That's the least I can do for him."

"The least you can do for him is make sure he isn't in pain, Rose. If you're not going to do it, I will."

"Ok." Rose said relucntently as she blasted him in the head with an energy ball, ending the suffering she so badly wanted to watch him go through. That's the same death his brother had, too, Rose thought as she looked down at his headless body. She felw slowly down toward her great-grandfather and said,

"I know that you're not that strong right now, grandpa, but do you think that you can help me down and sit? James broke my ankle and my knee on the right side."

"Sure. Just use my left shoulder. That's it. Take it easy." Goku said as he helped her sit on the ground next to Tom. Rose put his head in her lap and said,

"Everything's going to be alright, Tom. I promise."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 29

It was graduation and Rose was still in her cast. Everyone believed that she and Tom had been in a car accident while they had been on a date. Everyone, that was, except Tom, of course. It was after the ceremony and Julia had walked up to Rose.

"I'm SO glad that I didn't have to walk with you, Rose. You're not worth walking with."

"I thought you said you wanted to be friends?"

"Yeah, right. I just wanted to get dirt on you so I could gossip. Besides, there's no way you were in a car crash."

"She was Julia. I was in the car with her." Tom said in Rose's defense, holding up his arm, which was in a cast. It had been badly shattered when he had fallen.

"Why would two people lie, Julia?" Rose asked. All Julia could do was turn and storm down the hallway.

Back at Rose's house, Tom and his mother had settled in. They were still looking for a place to stay, but decided to stay there while they looked. Rose and Tom were celebrating by having a small party.

"Hey! How about we check out that island I suggested we have the wedding on?"

"Rose. Your leg. You don't need to be flying."

"Bulma wouldn't mind driving us there. Your mom can go, too."

"Ok. Let's go ask." They found Bulma and she said,

"So, you wanna blow your own graduation party, huh?"

"That's the idea." Tom said with a smile.

"Tell me when you're ready to leave."

"Ok." Rose said as she and Tom went to find Mary, Tom's mother. When they found her, Tom said,

"Mom. We're going to go look at a possible wedding site, and we'd like you to go, too."

"Ok. Let's go." Mary said, smiling at her soon-to-be daughter in-law.

On the island, Master Roshi to give Tom and his mom a tour of the island.

"I thought, have the wedding while the sun is going down. When the light reflects on the water with reds and pinks." Rose explained as they walked.

"That would be perfect, Rose. What do you think of that, Tom?" Mary asked, turning her attention to her son.

"I like that idea. What about your grandparents, Rose?"

"They've known I've always wanted to get married on this island. Ever since I first came here as a little girl, I could see myself getting married as the sun was setting and the water was lapping on the shore."

"Here it is then."


End file.
